Oneida’s Elder Village neighborhood taking shape

Oneida Total Integrated Enterprises (OTIE) is in the midst of providing Oneida’s elders with new beautiful houses that many residents are already proud to call home. “OTIE was honored to be selected as the General Contractor and thankful to the Oneida Tribe for the opportunity to construct these homes for the tribal elders,” Matt Kunstman, Business Unit Manager for OTIE, said.

Residents already living in Oneida’s Elder Village neighborhood are pleased with the planning, location, and outcome of the multi-Oneida Nation department project that has, so far, produced several homes for elders to reside in that are centrally located, safe and convenient.

“The idea was not to confine the elders but to put those that like to live near each other that were scattered throughout the reservation closer together,” said one Elder Village resident who wished to not be identified. “We’re close to the clinic, we’re close to Elder Services and we’re close to the Meal Site so this entire area is geared towards the services for our elders. Once somebody goes onto the Spirit World the home reverts back to Oneida Housing Authority (OHA), it’s rehabbed, and another elder gets to move in. So it’s a cycle, it’s not a permanent home, but it’s reasonable and it allows our elders to enjoy each other.

“I received one of the first homes after I had lived in tribal housing for over ten years at Three Sisters,” the elder said. “It was nice there, but it’s become more family-oriented now, so this is ideal and they are very nice homes. The roads, sewers, water and electricity are already in place so the cost factor is going to go down a great deal.”

Nestled in a sprouting subdivision directly behind the Elder Services complex on Henry Road, Maria Hinton Way, and Minoka Hill Drive the Elder Village neighborhood features two styles of 2-bedroom homes which contain single-stall garages, radiant heat flooring, central air, along with washing machines and dryers. Perhaps one of the most aesthetically pleasing aspects of these homes is the fact that they are located near walking paths that wind their way through the subdivision, and residents frequently see abundant wildlife such as deer and turkey directly behind their houses.

“This all started back in 2011 when we received a competitive grant from Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for infrastructure,” Dale Wheelock, Executive Director for OHA, said. “So this was phase one and we’re beginning phase two with new construction over there right now to provide even more housing, and we plan on having about 40 units here when this is all completed.”

There are expected to be a total of three phases to the Elder Village subdivision construction before the project is completed. “We are adding another 12-14 new units by next year,” Kevin House, Project Manager for the Oneida Engineering Department, said. “We’re going to keep on our work through the winter and get everything tweaked and drawn up nicely so we can send everything out for bid in the spring and start construction in the summer of 2017.”

The third and final phase of the joint project is expected to take place in about two to three years and that will consist of attaching all of the back roads in Elder Village together and completing construction of approximately another 20 housing units.

Each year the Oneida Nation receives allocations from HUD and for 2017 that amount is expected to be just beyond $4M. “We usually allocate about $1.9M – $2.2M for new construction, and it’s not just here at Elder Village,” Wheelock said. “That’s throughout the entire reservation where we have 374 units we must maintain and take care of. Just here alone we have Elder Village, and nearby we have family-oriented construction on the other end, and we also have five duplexes which are fully compliant with HUD’s disabilities requirements. We’re looking out for our elder’s comfort and provide them a location where they can age in place.”

The OHA has been around since 1966 when Site I was built, Wheelock said, and since then they’ve learned that building a housing site in straight grid-like patterns isn’t always the most prudent or safest of measures. “We’ve learned from the past,” Wheelock said. “So when we designed these new homes we placed them on curves and sways so it slows drivers down. Plus it’s nice and meandering because in nature you don’t see everything in straight lines. We’re proud of what we’ve done here and there’s more to come.”

OHA also takes care of all grass cutting, snow removal, and other pertinent repairs that must be conducted on the properties. “Our elders and their health issues are our number one concern,” Wheelock said. “So when we get hit by a snow storm our crews take care of the elders first and clear that out for emergency vehicles.”

Currently there are 44 elders on a waiting list to obtain one of these homes, however if the need arises for an elder who is wheelchair-bound to find a home every effort is made to move them into one of these homes as soon as possible.

Numerous Oneida Nation and other Native American subcontractors have been utilized throughout this project including OTIE General Contracting, Joe Johnson Concrete, Menominee Tribal Enterprises, Titletown Flooring, Mavid, Go Green Painting, Oneida Plumbing, TGHS and Current Electrical. “We are very grateful that we were able to keep much of the subcontracting for this project within our tribal communities,” Kunstman said. “That was always very important to us.”