There are ongoing investigations to assess and determine the condition of some housing units in the Hilltop apartment complex on 47 Street.
The news comes from Jeanne Yurris, the communications manager for Housing NWT. Apparently, the territorial housing department is planning some rennovations.
“The work will be planned in stages in order to minimize the impact on residents,” she wrote in an email.
The news comes from weeks of back and forth. At the start of April, apartments at Hilltop already had their windows boarded up and appeared unoccupied. Children’s playtoys had been left scattered on front lawns.
Rennovations are expected to begin this summer, Yurris wrote.
According to her, nine tenants have so far been moved to other public housing units. They’re expected to move back in this coming fall or winter.
“Hilltop has 24 units in total divided across four housing blocks. To minimize impacts to all residents of Hilltop, the current plan is to undertake work sequentially by housing block,” Yurris wrote in one of her emails.
NNSL Media also reached out to Yellowknife North MLA Shauna Morgan, whose constituency includes Hilltop.
In another email, Morgan said she got her own response from the housing department echoing how they’re currently planning a project at Hilltop for the summer.
“The work may include work on the ventilation systems and therefore (Yellowknife Housing Authority) and Housing NWT are suggesting an approach that sees the renovation done to a block of units at one time,” the department said to Morgan.
Her email explains that Housing NWT recently completed a security assessment of their buildings in Yellowknife. The report from that assessment is expected at the end of April.
“The report will include recommendations for enhancing the overall security architecture of all our buildings, including the efficient use of surveillance cameras in those buildings including the Hilltop Apartments,” according to Morgan’s email.
These houses are part of an low income assistance program. According to Housing NWT, they have units in 30 communites in the territory.
Residents typically have a low household income, are at least 19 years old and meet the community residency requirements as set out in the Local Housing Authority bylaws.
The total incomes of people living in one of these homes determines how much a family has to pay every month in rent, according to Housing NWT’s website.
If some of these houses are in poor condition in Hilltop, it wouldn’t necessarily be the first time. In 2019, a resident, who used to sleep in one of the houses that’s now boarded up, said the house was infected with bed bugs that left him with bites and sores.
The Yellowknife Housing Authority denied the bed bugs allegations at Hilltop, two days after the intital story appeared.