Contractors are needed for housing renovation projects in the City of Waynesville. Homes will be improved through Meramec Community Enhancement Corporation’s (MCEC) $203,500 Home Repair Opportunity (HeRO) program grant, funded through the Missouri Housing Development Commission. Approximately 10 homes are expected to be upgraded.

Contractors wishing to participate in the program should complete the application on MRPC’s website at www.meramecregion.org. The application deadline is Feb. 29. The renovation work may include weatherization, ADA accessibility, electrical improvements, addressing environmental issues such as lead-based paint and asbestos, plumbing improvements, heating and cooling system upgrades and energy efficiency upgrades.

The application requests client, supplier, financial references and information on past work experience. To work on this rehab project, contractors must carry liability insurance and workers compensation, if required. Contractors must also be registered with the Secretary of State’s Office and cannot be on any federal debarred list. Contractors addressing lead issues also must be certified in new EPA lead course.

The funds must be used specifically for owner-occupied homes within the designated Waynesville Downtown Revitalization and Economic Assistance for Missouri (DREAM) Initiative community area. The City of Waynesville was invited to participate in the DREAM Initiative, which is a state program designated to assist communities with downtown redevelopment and revitalization efforts.

MCEC is a 501©3 that works in partnership with Meramec Regional Planning Commission (MRPC). Meramec Regional Planning Commission will carry out the projects on behalf of MCEC.

“The purpose of this grant is to provide a better quality of life for low-to-moderate income families to make their homes safer and more energy efficient,” explained MRPC Community Development Specialist Maria Kardon, who serves as project administrator. “Whether it is replacing a roof, installing a new furnace and replacing windows or making the home ADA accessible – the grant is for those homeowners who don’t have the resources to make those improvements.”

Chuck Cantrell, MRPC housing inspector, will prepare a work write-up for each home selected for the program and will host a walk-through so contractors can see and discuss work to be performed. The work will then bebid, and the homeowner will select the contractor to be used.
Renovation work usually takes about 45 days per home.

Contractors needing more information can contact Cantrell at (573) 265-2993 or by email at ccantrell@meramecregion.org. Contractor applications can be sent by request by contacting Lisa Warnke at MRPC at lwarnke@meramecregion.org. Applications can also be picked up at the MRPC office at 4 Industrial Drive in St. James and are available online at www.meramecregion.org.

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia–(BUSINESS WIRE)–

PartSelect.com,
the complete online resource for the do-it-yourself (DIY) repair market
and official home of the Instant
Repairman, today revealed the cities in America in which people are
most likely to tackle their own appliance repair jobs.

Using data collected from millions of customer orders throughout the
company’s history, PartSelect.com determined that the top 10 cities most
likely to DIY, grouped by Combined Statistical Area, are:

1. Santa Fe-Espanola, N.M.
2. Wausau-Merrill, Wis.
3.
Bend-Prineville, Ore.
4. Port St. Lucie-Sebastian-Vero Beach, Fla.
5.
Claremont-Lebanon, N.H.-Vt.
6. Sarasota-Bradenton-Punta Gorda, Fla.
7.
Hartford-West Hartford-Willimantic, Conn.
8.
Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-Md.-Va.-W.Va.
9.
Boston-Worcester-Manchester, Maine-R.I.-N.H.
10.
Raleigh-Durham-Cary, N.C.

“The Sante Fe-Espanola, N.M. statistical area tops the chart, with
people 71 percent more likely to fix their own appliances than the
average American,” says Ben Graham, Director of Ecommerce for
PartSelect.com. “And yet, people in cities far from there, such as up
north to Wausau, Wis., and as southern as Sarasota, Fla., are not far
behind that. When we first decided to develop these rankings we thought
some interesting geographic patterns might emerge. But now we see that
the popularity of DIY is not confined to a specific region. As this top
10 list demonstrates, people all over the United States have the same
drive to save money by repairing their own appliances and buying their
parts online with a site like PartSelect.com.”

To calculate the rankings, PartSelect.com examined data from the 120
largest statistical areas in the United States and graded them based on
the number of appliance repair parts ordered in that area. The company
factored in population, number of households, homeownership rates, and
number of people per household in each region to rate the relative
likelihood of appliance repair and determine the region’s Appliance DIY
Score.

“By taking all of these factors into account, we can accurately say, for
example, that a Bostonian is 19 percent more likely than the average
American to repair his or her appliance. Yet, that same person is 44
percent less likely to tackle a DIY repair project than someone living
in Sante Fe,” says Graham.

PartSelect.com also uncovered the cities whose residents are least
likely to do their own repairs. With the residents of number one being
least likely to DIY, those areas are:

1. Brownsville-Harlingen-Raymondville, Texas
2.
Lumberton-Laurinburg, N.C.
3. Lubbock-Levelland, Texas
4.
Monroe-Bastrop, La.
5. Midland-Odessa, Texas
6. Jackson-Yazoo
City, Miss.
7. Columbus-Auburn-Opelika, Ga.-Ala.
8.
Fargo-Wahpeton, N.D.-Minn.
9. Youngstown-Warren-East Liverpool,
Ohio-Pa.
10. Corpus Christi-Kingsville, Texas

DIY appliance repair has become more accessible with the growing number
of online resources such as PartSelect.com’s
how-to videos and Instant
Repairman. These tools empower more people to take charge of their
own appliance repairs, enabling them to save money and increase the life
expectancy of their appliances.

A complete ranking of the 120 combined statistical areas most (and
least) likely to perform a do-it-yourself appliance repair project is
available upon request.

ABOUT PARTSELECT.COM

PartSelect.com is the largest appliance and consumer electronic
repair store for the do-it-yourself market, with more than 2 million
parts, 30,000 sets of installation instructions, and a growing library
of how-to videos. PartSelect.com’s Instant
Repairman is the only search engine that lets users self-diagnose
their appliance issues and immediately connects them to the parts and
instructions needed to fix them. www.PartSelect.com.

MEDIA RESOURCES

Website: http://www.partselect.com

Instant Repairman: http://www.partselect.com/Instant-Repairman.htm

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/PartSelect

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PartSelect

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/PartSelect

Gordon Tokumatsu

Homeowners want city to reimburse the $25,000 they spent after the city inspector told them their house violated city codes.

Clara Terrones and her husband bought their La Puente home 52 years ago. When it comes to city codes and ordinances, she said they have always abided by the law.

When the roof on their living room expansion started leaking last summer, the couple included the city in the project. They had already begun fixing the leak and removing asbestos when they claim that a city official told them the extension’s flat roof had to be replaced to bring the house up to code.

Clara said she was told the aesthetics of the flat roof were no longer permitted “for the beautification of the city.”

The Terroneses then hired more workers to build a slanted roof but before that was finished, a city inspector told them they needed new walls to support the new roof.

When it was all done, the couple in their 70’s living on a fixed income said they ended up loading two credit cards with $25,000 worth of debt.

Still trying to do it by the book, Clara called the woman that she said ordered her to fix the flat roof. She was told there had been a misunderstanding.

“She said, ‘No, we couldn’t have forced you [to fix the roof]. Because we found the permit and you’re grandfathered in,” Clara said.

It turns out the expensive ordeal concerning the roof could have been avoided and now the Terroneses say they are broke.

“We really are looking into bankruptcy,” said Clara, who is worried that they could lose the house. “We’re not going to survive paying these bills.”

La Puente city officials did not return calls for comment, but they did tell a local newspaper that they have launched an investigation into the matter.

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