July 26th, 2023

CES betters base housing

VALDOSTA, GA, UNITED STATES
07.13.2023
Story by Airman 1st Class Sir Wyrick 23rd Wing Public Affairs

MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. - A heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems upgrade project began on June 19, 2023 for select Moody housing communities. The renovation project aims to help further modernize housing for Moody's Airmen and help improve their quality of life.

With the collaborative efforts from the 23rd Civil Engineer Squadron and Hunt Community Housing, approximately $3.1 million dollars was granted by the Air Force Civil Engineer Center enabling the replacement of the majority of HVAC systems in the “Quiet Pines” and “Magnolia Groves” communities.

“For the last year and a half, we have been working with both AFCEC and Hunt Community Housing to advocate funding for this project,” said Lt. Col. Peeter Pleake-Tamm, 23rd CES commander. “Due to the dedicated work of all parties, about 80% of the houses in the Quiet Pines and Magnolia Groves communities will receive a new HVAC unit and every home in both neighborhoods will receive a duct clean. Ultimately residents should be left with a much newer, more effective cooling unit.”

The renovation plan has been carefully crafted to quickly and effectively complete this project with minimum inconvenience to Airmen and their families.

“We have much appreciation for the renovation team,” he said. “They started with a couple of the vacant units which was a huge help working out any kinks in the process. We are trying to minimize the time residents are impacted. The contractor will start in the morning and then by the end of the day, that unit will be reestablished and the resident will then have cooling again.”

The neighborhoods chosen were on the shortlist for renovation due to older model HVAC units.

“Replacing these systems will drastically help cool down these older homes,” said Kristen Brooks, community director of Hunt Community Housing. “A majority of these systems are very outdated and we constantly get HVAC related calls, especially during the summer months. We hope this will help eliminate some of our Airmen's housing problems and help ease the workload of the maintenance team.”

This renovation is projected to last 180 days and will impact hundreds of Airmen, making this one of the largest reaching housing investments at Moody.

“We are making improvements to 287 homes,” Pleake-Tamm said. “Almost 75% of associated privatized housing for Moody Air Force Base is going to be seeing this type of investment. It is no understatement to say this is really going to improve the quality of the homes for the vast majority of the Airmen on this base. It’s Important that our Airmen have a reliable system to allow them and their families to sleep well at night and have an overall pleasant experience living in their home.”

With this project underway CES, AFCEC and Hunt Community Housing are planning for even more investments to be made in the Moody communities.

“On the horizon we have plans for a main sewage line replacement in Quiet Pines and then a painting project in Magnolia Grove,” Brooks said. “We are doing our best to provide Moody’s Airmen with a well-maintained home. We appreciate all of the valiant efforts of CES and AFCEC while we continue to make Moody family housing the best place to call home.”