First New Mobile Home Set at Weston’s; Bond Auto Donates $50,000
November 22, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — The mobile home de-construction team headed by Lt. Governor Phil Scott and Secretary of Commerce and Community Development Lawrence Miller gathered this morning at Weston’s Park in Berlin for the delivery of the first new mobile home since the flood.
Today’s delivery marks a significant step forward for the park, where 70 homes were substantially damaged by Irene. The team headed by Lt. Gov. Scott and Secretary Miller removed 30 of those homes over the past two weeks at no cost to the homeowners. By working with contractors, community organizers and state officials, the team substantially reduced the cost of removal by lining up several homes for on-site demolition in the same park at the same time. Individual mobile home disposal typically involves trucking the unit out of the park and, when done one at a time, can cost upwards of $3,500.
Thanks to successful fundraising by the Vermont Community Foundation and the Vermont Long Term Disaster Recovery Group, the team was eventually able to offer the service completely free of charge to mobile home owners without spending any taxpayer dollars.
This morning, the team announced another major donor to the project. Bond Auto Parts stepped forward with a $50,000 contribution, which will help to fund the ongoing de-construction work in mobile home parks around the state. The team prepared to finish up work today at Patterson’s Mobile Home Park in Duxbury, where 15 mobile homes were removed. Next week, contractors will move on to Whalley’s in Waterbury, and then on to parks in Woodstock and Brattleboro.
Residents Bob and Patty Goodell, owners of the new mobile home that was delivered to Weston’s this morning, said they were thrilled that they would be in their new home in time for Thanksgiving. “The last two and a half months have felt like two and a half years,” Patty Goodell said, “but we’re so grateful to park owner Ellery Packard and to Lt. Governor Scott and his team for making this happen.”
“In our work so far, we’ve removed 45 homes and filled 100 dumpsters,” Scott said. “But the true measures of success here are the homeowners and the park owners who will have a clean slate and be able to move forward with their lives.”
Source: Office of the Lieutenant Governor
