Water restored at Wildwood House apartments

BECKLEY, WV (WVNS) – Residence at Wildwood House are breathing a sigh of relief after water is finally restored. Eighty-four-year-old Patricia Scales said she woke up at her Wildwood House Apartments complex in Beckley, to discover she had no running water.

“Thursday morning, I was getting ready to wash my hair, and something said, ‘Check the water,’ because it’s always something going on here,” Scaled said on Monday, October 7, 2024. “No water. So, I come downstairs, and somebody (a neighbor said they looked out) and saw a gusher, up in the air. There was a gusher.”

Wildwood House Apartments on Autumn Lane in Beckley is advertised on its website as an independent living community for those aged 50 and older, including those with disabilities.

State records show Beckley Associates, a for-profit company based in New Jersey, owns the complex, which Wildwood Residents Association President James Manyor said is made up of more than 160 units.

From October 3rd until October 7th evening, when the local Beckley Water Company procured a contractor to repair a water line, Wildwood residents had no running water.

Natalie Coots, who represents Wildwood residents on Beckley Common Council’s Ward One, said that the water line repair was the responsibility of the building’s owner.

Councilwoman Coots said donors and Raleigh County Emergency Medical Services had ensured that residents had access to drinking water during the water outage, while Bradley-Prosperity Fire Department delivered a pool to Wildwood and filled it with water, so residents could flush their toilets.

Raleigh County Community Action Association and the Raleigh County Emergency Housing Center transported Wildwood residents to the housing center to allow them to take showers,

Local caregiver Janet Stoots said that she and a social worker were working on their days off, to help their clients at Wildwood.

“We carry water so they can flush it. It takes three gallons of water to flush the toilet,” said Stoots, who helped residents fill and transport five-gallon buckets of water. “They can’t carry it back and forth, and they can’t dump it, because some of them can’t raise their arms.”

Resident Robert Thorne, along with Ms. Scales, said they and many other Wildwood residents, pay rent of around $650, with HUD vouchers covering a large portion.

Maynor said plumbing issues in the past have led to his unit flooding, when a water tank in a nearby apartment leaked.

Mr. Thorne and Ms. Scales said there are bedbugs at Wildwood which injure residents.

Mr. Thorne said that some units have no air conditioning and that he has called the owner’s hotline many times to ask for help but has never gotten a reply.

According to data on the Beckley Housing Authority website, the Housing Choice Voucher Rental Assistance Program, known as Section 8, is funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The goal is to assist low-income families, the elderly and disabled in making monthly rental payments.

Inspectors must conduct regular inspections of Section 8 properties to ensure residents’ living space meets federal guidelines.

Mr. Thorne said that he does not believe conditions at Wildwood meet federal HUD guidelines.

“Somehow, HUD comes in here and they check, and it’s passed, but everything’s not right like it’s supposed to be, and I don’t know how they’re getting by with it,” he said. ” I can’t put it to you any other way. These people, we’re suffering.”

59News reached out to the parent company of Beckley Associates but did not immediately receive a response on October 7th.

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