Probe of flood grant keeps homeowners, contractors waiting

Federal reimbursement for repairs to suburban homes damaged by the floods of 2008 has been put on hold as the Cook County inspector general investigates officials' implementation of a $10 million grant program meant to help homeowners.

Instead, the Illinois Department of Human Services' decision to suspend payments has left some suburban homeowners dealing with unfinished work and unable to pay bills for what's been completed.

Department spokeswoman Marielle Sainvilus said inadequate documentation of how Cook County officials doled out the federal grant money led to the suspension.

“With the previous (Cook County) administration, there was a lot of shoddy paperwork that was done,” Sainvilus said.

But, she added, the new county administration is moving quickly to correct past oversights.

Cook County spokeswoman Jessey Neves blamed mismanagement by the administration of former Cook County Board President Todd Stroger for the problems. However, she said, new County Board President Toni Preckwinkle has made it a priority to correct it as soon as possible.

“What we're trying to do is put all the pieces back together,” Neves said.

In the meantime, Cook County Inspector General Patrick Blanchard said his office is actively investigating county officials' prior implementation of the grant.

Blanchard declined to comment on specific allegations, including whether there is evidence to suggest any of the federal dollars may have been spent improperly.

Cook County State's Attorney spokesman Andy Conklin also declined to comment on any investigation, but said no one has been charged with any crime related to the grant.

While county officials try to resolve the problems, homeowners and county-approved contractors are the ones feeling the impact from the government agencies' impasse.

Neves said a total of 906 suburban homeowners received approval for $7 million in repairs from the grant, which had a $10 million cap.

All work had to be identified by Sept. 30, 2010, and the invoices were originally due back in mid-November — a deadline which has been extended by the county's own mismanagement issues, Neves said.

Nevertheless, the county is standing by its restriction that no new work identified since Sept. 30 is eligible, she said.

Jeff Tondola, a Des Plaines-based contractor, said much of the problem arose from the discovery of damage more extensive than the county initially believed existed.

Tondola was assigned 19 contracts to be completed during the fall, but the amount of work needed to be done proved impossible to get done on time. Among his clients, about a dozen have work left to be done, including one Des Plaines resident who is out of his home altogether.

“There are people with unfinished projects and it causes safety problems,” Tondola said.

He made it a priority, though, to leave each project as safe as possible, including closing up exposed electrical fixtures. So far, Tondola said, he's performed about $25,000 in work for which he knows he might not get reimbursed.

For contractors that are demanding full payment, however, it is the homeowners themselves who are on the hook if the federal funding doesn't resume.

Tondola said some of the homes and basements he saw throughout the county were in shocking condition.

“Some people cleaned, but some people left it and that was just nasty,” he said.