‘It’s a bad situation’: Residents complain about heating problems at Ralston Towers

Tony Leroy Hunt stood in the freezing cold Thursday morning wearing the same jacket and hat that he slept in overnight.

Hunt, a resident at the Ralston Towers, said it was the only way to keep warm in his frigid apartment.

“The heat’s been out now for two days and there’s a lot of elderly here, as well as vets,” he said. “This is how I slept last night because it got so cold inside the apartments. ... It got down close to freezing last night.

“Even with the space heaters they handed out it’s a bad situation,” he added. “This is not the way we should treat our elderly in Columbus, Ga., and our vets who fought and died for our freedom.”

Hunt made the comments the day after the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development ordered a temporary evacuation of the Ralston due to lack of hot water and a portion of the facility being declared unsafe by city officials.

With temperatures expected to reach a low of 25 degrees Wednesday night, HUD officials had told the building’s management company, PF Ralston Inc., to move out residents and temporarily house them in hotels until the issue was resolved. But it appeared Thursday morning that no one was evacuated.

City Inspections and Code Director John Hudgison said the city received calls from Ralston residents Thursday morning still complaining about the heat. He said he went to the building and found the facility and residents in the same condition.

“I just left the Ralston and we’re trying to figure out what the next steps are,” he told the Ledger-Enquirer. “HUD enforcement is currently on the way, is what we’ve been told as of 9 o’clock this morning, because we checked this morning and some of those tenants still had not been moved.”

“We’ve been over there and it’s still not looking good,” he added. “I’m glad HUD enforcement is coming because they kind of supersede us with this building. So, hopefully, they’ll be able to get some stuff going.”

Staff at the Ralston told the Ledger-Enquirer Thursday that they couldn’t comment on the issue and referred questions to the New Jersey-based owners.

“We’re not at liberty to comment on site level, but you could call them,” she said.

Hunt, who has lived there for two years, said residents were notified about the heating problems about four days ago. To stay warm, he wore several bankets and the space heater provided by management.

“I have two rooms in my apartment and a hallway, and it’s stretched out enough so a little space heater is not going to heat it,” he said. “ There are four apartments like mine on each floor in the Ralston. So, I’m not the only one that has two rooms.”

Willie Thomas, 73, said he has lived in the building for 12 years and temperature continues to be a problem. He said thermostats are set at about 73 or 76 degrees, and residents aren’t able to adjust them above or below that temperature.

“An old building like this, that’s not warm enough in the wintertime,” he said. “It warms up here in Georgia during the day. In the evenings, temperatures start dropping again and you can feel it.”

Johnnie Jackson, 70, said he had heat in his apartment on Thursday, but no hot water or lights.

“It’s been three weeks, man,” he said. “They were supposed to send somebody up to put some lights in there, but it never happened.”

This story was originally published January 4, 2018 at 12:36 PM with the headline "‘It’s a bad situation’: Residents complain about heating problems at Ralston Towers."