Project Description
GOVERNOR’S OFFICE OF STORM RECOVERY (GOSR)
The Winsor Team currently assists GOSR with project management support. We provide oversight and coordination of program and construction management, including serving as GOSR’s “owner’s representative” across a variety of projects and programs to ensure that they are implemented efficiently, cost-effectively, and in compliance with all governing regulations.
As a cornerstone of New York State’s efforts to assist storm-impacted New Yorkers, the Governor’s Office of Storm Recovery (GOSR) operates the NY Rising Housing Recovery Program (the Program) to facilitate home repairs, rehabilitation, mitigation, and elevation for the owners of rental properties. The Rental Properties component of the Program provides funds for the repair of storm-damaged rental properties of all types and sizes, including single-family homes, townhouses, and apartment buildings. Above all else, GOSR has recognized the extreme importance of getting families back in their homes, while simultaneously ensuring compliance with U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) requirements.
In compliance with the Uniform Relocation Act (URA), the Program offers relocation assistance to tenants permanently or temporarily displaced by the impact of Superstorm Sandy.
Tenants have rights. To set up the most cordial relationship between tenant and landlord, offering support and coordination to both groups is particularly important.
The Uniform Relocation Act (“URA”) program offers assistance to tenants who are displaced as a result of federally-funded projects. The URA is particularly important in areas with a large population of multi-family dwellings and/or rental properties with tenant(s). The purpose of the URA is to minimize displacement, assist with reducing the burden of temporary and permanent displacement and ensure that tenants are relocated to units that are decent, safe and sanitary. The goal of the URA program is to provide all URA-required notices as soon as feasible and to maintain strict recordkeeping requirements so as to ensure compliance with all facets of the URA.
Winsor has the experience to establish and implement proper quality controls to ensure that payments are successfully routed to the proper party. URA provides direct payments to landlords, tenants, moving companies, and others via the Automated Clearing House network (“ACH”). It is imperative to have proper controls in place to ensure funds are not routed to the wrong account.
The IMA Program has assisted nearly 2,000 applicants to maintain the financial burden of carrying both a mortgage and rental payment while displaced during CDBG-DR funded home repairs and construction. To be eligible, the applicant must demonstrate both ownership and mortgage for their property while simultaneously demonstrating concurrent rental obligations. Winsor was able to put in place streamlined reporting, recommendation of new policies, and improved the quality of closeout submissions.
Our Team also supports GOSR in setting priorities, identifying internal and external resources, creating decision-frameworks and analyses that enable GOSR to make sound policy-based, financial and operational decisions. Further, we develop (and/or work with various internal and external stakeholders and vendors to prepare) projects and programs, work plans, schedules, deliverables and budgets.
The Winsor Team has provided cost benefit analysis and “what if” impact studies for critical, key policy decisions such as Award Calculations, Duplication of Benefits, Cost of Compliance, Vendor Compliance, Key Performance Indicators, Eligibility, Pre and ReCapture, AFWA, Tier II and Title.
