Western Heritage Responds to Resident Concerns

The Sidney Housing Authority wants to thank everyone for their support as resident concerns at Western Heritage are evaluated.

Both the Board of Commissioners and the management have always been responsive to the resident concerns.

The Western Heritage administration is pleased to find the root cause of the plumbing issue at Western Heritage in several adjoining apartments and worked diligently with our contractors and staff to resolve the issue. The Western Heritage administration also wants to set the record straight for those who might have misunderstood some of the comments made earlier.

1) Western Heritage is not a nursing home nor an assisted living facility, it is

an apartment complex with rental assistance specifically for income-

qualified elderly and disabled residents.

2) The water has always been on.

3) The HVAC systems are working properly.

4) The residents have toll-free numbers to call in work-orders for items that

need repair.

5) The management staff who serve Western Heritage, Susan and Jackie, will

continue to serve the residents and property.

The City of Sidney was the original owner of Western Heritage built in 1977 and Sioux Villa, which was built in 1940’s. The properties were a part of the city-government Housing Authority. The Housing Authority became an independent entity in 2011. Shortly thereafter, the Scotts Bluff County Housing Authority was contracted as the management entity with much of the government required record-keeping and reporting done in Scottsbluff.

Property managers were at Western Heritage until Covid-19 struck Western Nebraska in March. Everything we do is with our resident’s health and safety in mind. Since July 1st, one or two managers have been at Western Heritage every week visiting with residents as they played bingo or dominos. They have been in the office collecting rent and holding briefings in order to continue the tenant-based Housing Choice Voucher Rental Assistance program. Those on-site visits also included inspections in apartments, observations of maintenance needs and additional communication with residents.

Western Heritage is not a nursing home as many in the community thought. We have 40 apartments that serve income-qualified, eligible residents (who are elderly or disabled). All of the apartments are one bedroom, with a community room that can be reserved for family functions as well as resident parties, BBQ’s and other events. The location features a resident-use only laundry facility that is operated by a contracted company. Food Bank is delivered in addition to special deliveries from King’s Daughters which make Western Heritage a wonderful place to live.

The property has maintenance oversight by a Maintenance Director, one full-time and one part-time maintenance personnel. As needed, a crew from Housing Partners of Western Nebraska is available to assist when needed. A resident is paid to clean the Community Room and another resident volunteers to make coffee for the events. Still others have always planted flowers to beautify the community room (except for this year due to Covid).

Since August 2011, the Sidney Housing Authority has remodeled 16 apartments, installed 23 walk-in showers, have replaced 9 kitchen cabinets, and installed 6 hot water heaters. We still have units which have tubs, for those seniors who like to soak, as well. SHA has also painted, installed new underground sprinklers, trimmed and/or removed overgrown bushes, and have installed 9 new complete HVAC systems and halted termite invasion. We order as many supplies and materials as we can from local business’ and appreciate the cooperation and attentiveness we have from our local vendors.

The Sidney Housing Authority and Housing Partners of Western Nebraska acknowledge we had a plumbing issue and thanks to the tireless efforts of maintenance, management, and contractors we are resolving that issue. I want to thank the residents for their cooperation with the plumbing, it has been quite a journey. I look forward to the Resident Meeting this week to visit with our residents and enjoy their company as we plan for the future for Western Heritage Apartments together to make 2020 a better year despite Covid-19!