It was reported during last Thursday’s Northern Marianas Housing Corp. that Valley Inn that NMHC acquired from CDA last July 28 to serve as guest house for medical referrals from Tinian and Rota will need to be fixed to accommodate persons with disabilities.
A recent ocular inspection by NMHC revealed that the doors, rooms, and bathrooms are too narrow to accommodate a wheelchair.
It was revealed last Thursday that the agency is working with NMPASI to do an inspection next week.
Based on NMHC staff initial assessment, the agency could only rehabilitate 20 percent of the facility to make it ADA-compliant.
It was suggested to have one room each on the east and west side to be rehabilitated and made compliant with ADA regulations.
Under ADA, no individual may be discriminated against on the basis of disability with regard to the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, or accommodations of any place of public accommodation by any person who owns, leases (or leases to), or operates a place of public accommodation.
As for existing tenants, it was reported that 10 had already been relocated by the housing agency while three remain on the premises including its manager Jean Sablan of the management company Valley Inn Inc.
Of the two tenants, one was approved to stay until Nov. 15 while the other was allowed to stay until Nov. 30.
The ho using agency will still discuss extension of the Valley Inn Inc.’s contract that expired Thursday.
The NMHC board approved during its August board meeting the management agreement for Valley Inn Inc. to operate and maintain the inn for 90 days, from Aug. 1 to Nov. 1.
During the August board meeting, legal counsel Vicente Salas explained that the housing agency would run and operate the inn until such time that the central government could take over and run it as a medical referral facility.
“Any expenses incurred in the maintenance will be sourced from the rental revenues,” Salas earlier told the board.
Meanwhile, the NMHC has yet to meet with Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. chief executive officer Juan N. Babauta to discuss the CHC’s takeover of the facility for use by medical referrals.
Since August, Valley Inn has been available to accept medical referrals from Tinian and Rota. NMHC administrator Joshua Sasamoto had informed the board, “We had an understanding with the governor, whenever there are any medical referral patients from Tinian and Rota they can immediately move to the Valley Inn.”
As the NMHC was racing with time to spend $1.9 million and meet its U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development or HUD ratio by August 2, it was fortunate to have found two feasible projects: construction of new junior high school and acquisition of Valley Inn.
The agency was in danger of losing money if it failed to use its Community Development Block Grant funds.
Of the $1.9 million it had to spend by Aug. 2, NMHC bought Valley Inn for $380,000 and acquired the site in Koblerville for the new school for $1.17 million.
Valley Inn sits on three lots — 7,153 sq. m., 750 sq. m. and 325 sq. m.— in As Lito, Saipan and was last appraised at $677,628.
