Sam Campbell

FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Aug. 17, 2020) — Fort Leonard Wood’s housing partner, Balfour Beatty Communities, has updated its move-in options for all homes on the post to minimize contact residents have with representatives.

“The safety of our employees and residents is our utmost priority and limiting the spread of COVID-19 as much as possible is a factor in that,” said Jason Williams, BBC community manager. “As we evaluated ways to resume ‘normal’ operations as safely as possible in this pandemic environment, we realized that processes including move-in needed to be restructured.”

The changes include a new “contactless” feature as well as a “socially distanced” version of the typical move-in process.

“If a resident chooses contactless, our team will prepare the new home by providing a move-in packet on the kitchen counter, which contains everything new residents need to finalize their move, including a home inspection checklist,” he said. “On the day of move-in, a resident specialist will unlock the home and leave the house keys on the counter.”

However, residents should pick the latter option if they hope to speak with a representative on site.

“If a resident chooses a socially distant move-in, the difference is that our team will meet incoming residents at their home on their scheduled move-in day and perform a standard walk-through of the home with the resident to demonstrate how all systems and features work, as well as to go over the home inspection checklist,” he said.

In both cases, Williams said, representatives wear proper protective equipment at all times. His office reminded incoming residents to submit inspection checklists within 10 days of moving into their new dwelling.

In partnership with the Directorate of Public Works, Housing Division, Balfour Beatty Communities has moved 211 families into homes on the installation since adopting the new process, Williams said.

“Usually our team greets incoming families in-house and a portion of the move-in process is done in our leasing office,” he said. “With this procedure, there is no contact between our new families and our team.”

He added that all home inspections are done in tandem with DPW, which conducts separate follow-up resident satisfaction interviews at 30 and 60 days after families have moved in.

“We come in once (BBC) says the house is ready to be rented,” said Mike Estright, DPW, housing deputy chief. “We’ll walk through the entire house. We’re checking for anything regarding health and safety; we’re checking to make sure that if there’s cosmetic damage, we at least annotate that. Once that’s done, then the house is ready to be rented.”

DPW housing staff said that although the process can now be done contactless, service members must also prioritize a visit to the DPW Housing Office – Building 470, Suite 1217 – to fill out necessary move-in paperwork like housing assignment letters.

Luis Rosario-Febus, DPW, housing chief, urged families to use reliable contact information on forms to ensure maintenance can be done in a timely manner.

For more information or for virtual home tours, visit www.fortleonardwoodhomes.com. To reach the DPW Housing Office, call 573.596.0984.

Balfour Beatty Communities Housing Manager Jason Bourcier regularly inspects homes for safety and damage concerns before families move in. He said he and his team inspect about seven homes every day. (Photo by Sam Campbell)

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About Fort Leonard Wood

Fort Leonard Wood is a thriving and prosperous installation that has evolved from a small basic training post more than 75 years ago to a premier Army Center of Excellence that trains more than 80,000 military and civilians each year.

Fort Leonard Wood is home to the U.S Army Maneuver Support Center of Excellence and three U.S. Army schools: the U.S. Army Engineer School; U.S. Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear School; and the U.S. Army Military Police School. In addition to training engineer, CBRN and military police specialties for the Army, Fort Leonard Wood also provides gender-integrated in-processing and Basic Combat Training for new Soldiers.

Fort Leonard Wood also hosts and trains with the largest Marine Corps Detachment and Air Force Squadron on any Army installation as well as a large Navy construction detachment.

More information about Fort Leonard Wood is at: https://home.army.mil/wood/index.php/about/mission