Skagit Valley Herald
April 29, 2009

SEDRO-WOOLLEY APARTMENTS FOR ELDERLY AND DISABLED BENEFIT FROM FEDERAL FUNDS

By Aaron Burkhalter

SEDRO-WOOLLEY — A 60-unit public housing complex will be one of the first Skagit County projects to benefit from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act with $189,590 in facility improvements.

Hillsview, a Sedro-Woolley Housing Authority project on Township Street that serves seniors and people with disabilities, will get the funding on top of its usual federal allocation for capital projects.

“In the case of Hillsview, this is a huge infusion of cash,” said Rhonda Rosenberg, spokesman for the King County Housing Authority, which oversees the Sedro-Woolley Housing Authority.

The project would be used to install handrails and energy-efficient lighting, improve the elevator and hallways, remodel the community room and kitchen and replace existing floors with plywood and carpeting, Rosenberg said.

The flooring has been in need of repair for a long time, with fractured and uneven concrete slabs, she said.

“It’s a huge project to do all those floors,” Rosenberg said. “Being able to do all these repairs there makes it much easier for frail and mobility-impaired residents to navigate.”

The project would employ 20 construction workers from July to December. The scope of the project will be more expensive than the initial infusion of stimulus dollars because the group will also use its capital funds budgeted for this year.

Bidding for the job will begin in May, with work expected to start in late July.