A video screen grab shows Lt. Gen. Kevin Vereen, a Deputy Chief of Staff who leads integration across the Army to modernize installations and enhance quality of life, as he visits Fort Carson, Colo., on Monday Aug. 22, 2023. (U.S. Army)
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Tribune News Service) — An Army deputy chief of staff charged with modernizing installations and improving quality of life toured Fort Carson this week and found some room for improvement with housing, but noted the Army has no plans to move away from housing contractor and maintenance provider Balfour Beatty Communities.
Fort Carson residents voiced their strong disapproval of their housing in the Army's 2022 tenant satisfaction survey, where they ranked the base the lowest out of all Army installations with privatized housing for overall tenant satisfaction. Fort Carson's overall score was 55.7 or very poor. Scores below 55 are classified as crisis.
When asked about resident frustration, Lt. Gen. Kevin Vereen, said garrison leadership told him that Balfour Beatty Communities is showing improvement and there is no discussion about changing companies.
"We're nowhere close to even having a discussion about changes," he said. While the Army does not provide the housing on Carson, it is charged with oversight of companies.
As part of modernizing housing, Balfour Beatty is building about 160 homes in the Cherokee West neighborhood, a project that started last summer with demolition, an effort Vereen cited as one of the improvements Balfour Beatty is making. The homes will replace 239 units that were torn down.
"They are moving in a positive direction," he said.
In April, Congressman Doug Lamborn raised concerns about the construction delay of those homes with Army Secretary Christine Wormuth, in addition to poor maintenance.
"I am still deeply concerned by the poor living conditions at Fort Carson," he said at the time.
So far in Cherokee West some ground clearing has started ahead of construction, Vereen said.
When asked about what could be done to improve the company, Vereen pointed to quality control, among other steps.
"We've got to be able to provide enough overhead inside of their management offices, to be able to do the quality control and quality assurance requirements that they're all obligated to do," he said.
He would also like to see good customer service and follow-up to ensure that if residents report an issue, someone follows up to ensure the issue is fixed.
Beyond Fort Carson, Balfour Beatty has faced consequences for poor management through the Department of Justice.
In late 2021, Balfour Beatty pleaded guilty to committing major fraud against the United States related to lying about repairing service members' homes, according to a news release.
"Instead of promptly repairing housing for U.S. service members as required, BBC lied about the repairs to pocket millions of dollars in performance bonuses," said Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco in a statement. "This pervasive fraud was a consequence of BBC's broken corporate culture, which valued profit over the welfare of servicemembers."
As part of the deal Balfour Beatty agreed to pay $33.6 million in fines and over $31.8 million in restitution to the U.S. military, serve three years of probation and engage an independent compliance monitor for a period of three years, the department said. It also agreed to resolve its civil liability for $35.2 million.
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