Filling out a survey about needs in Laurel’s Housing Authority has brought much attention to the agency’s wish list.

Kay Guy, executive director of the City of Laurel’s Housing Authority, said she filled out a survey and listed some of the needs of the agency.

Among those things were heating, exterior building repairs, doorbells, sewer/drainage line repair, security officers at each of the housing authority’s sites and interior/exterior renovations at the Arco Lane site.

However, the doorbells have gotten national attention.

According to the paperwork Guy provided, part nine of the survey from the United States Conference of Mayors organization requested projects that could be done using Public Housing Modernization Funds. The survey requested project descriptions, funding required and the number of 2009 jobs created by the projects.

The survey explains that Public Housing Modernization Funds can be used for repair and construction projects, including safety repairs.

The survey also asked for a list of all eligible public housing modernization projects which, assuming that funds are awarded by Jan. 1, 2009, can begin and be completed in 2009 by the public housing authority which serves a particular city.

“For each project, enter the amount of public housing modernization funding required and the number of jobs that would be created during calendar 2009,” the survey states.

“I just did what the survey asked,” Guy said. “It required a list of items, and doorbells just happened to be one of them.”

The total of the housing authority’s request was $2,979,760 that projected about 52 jobs being created.

Based on the requests: Heating was estimated at $120,000 creating four jobs; exterior building repairs was estimated at $100,000 creating three jobs; the doorbells was estimated at $99,600 creating two jobs; the sewer/drainage line repair was estimated at $600,000 creating four jobs; security officers at each of the housing authority’s sites was estimated at $860,160 creating 24 jobs; and interior/exterior renovations at the Arco Lane site was estimated at $1.2 million creating 15 jobs.

“This was just an estimate of what we thought it would cost,” Guy said. “We would still have to bid these items out.”

Guy said the Housing Authority has 623 units with over 300 of those units having been built in 1938.

The Housing Authority has 275 units at its Beacon Street site, 110 units at Brown Circle, 124 units located at South Fourth/Maple Street, 54 units at Arco Lane and 60 units at Windsor Courts.

“The Housing Authority has various needs,” Guy said. “These units are very old. They do not have central air and heat. The older units do not have enclosed closets and all the drainage needs to be upgraded.

“With the doorbells, I was looking at upgrades for my elderly units and the overall housing authority,” she said. “Doorbells were just a very small portion of our needs. ... We listed doorbells because there was a request from our Residents Council.”

Guy said, if approved, each of the elderly units at the Housing Authority would receive two door bells.

“The doorbells could be placed on the inside of the elderly units for emergency needs,” she said. “The elderly units would be enhanced with an exterior and interior doorbell. The interior doorbell would be used in case of emergencies.”

Guy said the Housing Authority has 72 new units, which were built due to the S-Curve Project, and they already have doorbells and were not included in the estimate.

Guy said once she completed her portion of the survey, she submitted it back to Laurel Mayor Melvin Mack’s Office.

“It was a simple survey,” she said. “I did this on Nov. 7 and faxed it to the mayor’s office and that’s all I know about it.”

According to the paperwork, the survey, once completed, was to be sent to the United States Conference of Mayors.

Wanda Benson with the City of Laurel’s Public Relations Office said the form was handled by the mayor’s secretary, who was not available for comment Thursday afternoon.

Guy said the Housing Authority is an important part of the City of Laurel.

“We are a very viable part of the community,” she said. “We house 10 percent of the population of Laurel and we have been a very important part of Laurel since 1938.”

Guy said it’s important for people to realize how the Housing Authority is funded.

“We only receive federal funds,” she said. “We don’t receive state or city funds, all of our funding comes from the federal level. People need to know that our funds have been decreasing steadily over the last five years.”