News - Local

Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009

Builder leaves cottage dwellers up in the air

PASS CHRISTIAN — The disaster of Hurricane Katrina still plagues Pass Christian residents who had hoped to be permanently settled months ago in Mississippi cottages.

Louis P. Morgan and Jill Mitchell, both of whom are single, and Kigin Blackstock and his family, paid a total of more than $53,000 to have their cottages elevated.

Foundation specialist Sean Kirk of Bay St. Louis has failed to finish the work or correct problems with what he has already done, they say. Kirk says the cottage foundations were tougher to install than he expected, and that he has gone into debt on the jobs.

All three residents signed two-week contracts with Kirk in May for the cottage foundations and elevations. They had hoped to be settled into their cottages by June. Instead, the elevated cottages won’t pass city occupancy inspections. As a result, the three are unable to complete sales transactions on the homes.

Morgan and the Blackstocks are living in their cottages, even though they are not completely secured on the foundations. Mitchell has been staying with a friend.

“This has been a long roller coaster ride and I’m nauseous,” said Mitchell, a supervisor with the Mississippi Health Department. “I have no more money and no place to go.”

Mitchell and Blackstock say they each paid Kirk more than $17,000 to elevate their cottages, while Morgan spent more than $19,000. All three residents thought they were buying “the Cadillac” of foundations for the modular homes, which were so popular as FEMA trailer alternatives that residents welcomed the opportunity to buy them at nominal prices.

The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, which oversees the cottage program, pays for foundations that must be elevated up to 5 feet 7 inches. Residents who must elevate higher pay for their own foundations. The original hope was to have all cottages permanently installed by the time hurricane season began June 1.

The three Pass Christian residents got Kirk’s contact information from the city. In fact, city planner Jeff Bounds gave Jill Mitchell a flyer from Kirk’s company, Mississippi Concrete Core Construction.

The city maintains, however, that it offered no endorsement of Kirk’s work.

His flyer said, “We have extensive experience building foundations for modular units and can help you select the best type of foundation for your home.”

Structural engineer Scott Sundberg designed the elevated concrete foundations. He also has to sign off on Kirk’s work before the three Pass Christian residents can secure occupancy certificates from the city.