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RRHA releases update concerning ongoing heating woes

Posted at 5:15 PM, Jan 08, 2019
and last updated 2019-01-08 17:18:20-05

RICHMOND, Va. — The Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority have released an update concerning their ongoing heating issues affecting dozens of city residents.

As of Friday, January 4, 38 apartments are experiencing loss of heat due to boiler related issues. That is down from 65 last week, according to the RRHA.

However, an additional 79 apartments are experiencing a partial loss of heat due to radiators not working, up from 53 last week, officials say.

“In all cases, RRHA’s first priority is to restore the apartment’s temperature to 68 degrees as mandated by Virginia law during the heating season,” said spokesperson Orlando Artze. “This is accomplished by providing electric space heaters as a temporary measure to respond to the immediate problem and need.”

The RRHA says all affected apartments have been provided with electric space heaters as a temporary solution.

This comes after the RRHA launched a new initiative to keep residents warm last month. The RRHA received a $5.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to fix heating and hot water issues.

WTVR CBS 6 has reported on a number of issues, including heating problems, for a number of years.

Last winter, residents in 20 Fairfield Court apartments lost heat when a boiler broke in February. In that case, a new boiler was installed in March.

Then in January 2018, roughly 50 families in Creighton Court were without heat, and subsequently, RRHA opted to replace that building’s heating system.

The same thing happened in November of 2017 in Gilpin Court and affected more than 300 units.

RRHA says their ultimate goal is to restore permanent heat to the affected apartments as quickly as possible depending on the cause of the problem.

Officials stressed that residents should immediately call 804-780-8700 if their heat goes out.

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