KATIE FREEMAN
Richard Miller of Miller financial group stands in front of a trailer he bought from FEMA.
A FEMA trailer originally bound for the Gulf has made its way to Greensburg, via Emporia.
The trailer is one of more than 20 that local businessman Richard Miller purchased from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which originally purchased the trailers to provide housing for victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Last week, a Greensburg resident bought one of Miller’s trailers to take back to Kiowa County for temporary housing. Other trailers have gone to traditional family camping uses, though one was sold to a sale barn and another to a Council Grove harvest crew on its way to Texas.
All of the trailers were pull-alongs, complete with kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms and convertible sleeping accommodations, heating and air conditioning, water and sewer hook-ups, and, in some cases, extras like microwave ovens and surround sound.
“We had some name-brand units that are no different than if you went out on a lot at a dealership,” Miller said. “... Some of the units we have still had plastic on the carpet.”
The majority of the trailers were 29 feet long, with one bedroom with a queen-sized bed, plus flip-out sleeper sofa and tables that converted into beds. The longest was 38 feet, with four bunk beds and two slide-out sides.
“Most of them just needed a good, thorough cleaning and scrubbing on the outside,” Miller said. All were checked to make sure propane tanks, air conditioners, furnaces and water heaters worked, and some of them got new mattresses and propane tanks, as well as other minor repairs.
Miller found the trailer opportunity on a government surplus Web site. He began purchasing FEMA trailers in November as a project for his sons, Rick, 21, and Brandon, 19.
“I’m the project man; just ask my kids,” Miller said, laughing. “They’ve had projects since they’ve been about 10 years old. They know how to work.”
Miller cited the adage: Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime.
“I’d like to teach them how to fish so they understand what it takes,” Miller said. “There are lots of opportunities. You just have to look out there and find them.”
The young Millers spent Christmas break shuttling the trailers in from Mississippi, Florida, Maryland and Virginia.
“They took their trucks and away they went,” he said. “I think they liked going.”
They encountered snow in the mountains, which may have made them a little uneasy, but they made it back with no tickets, no accidents and only one flat tire.
“I always made sure they were paired up with somebody,” Miller said.
Many of the trailers already have been sold and the remaining ones are on view at the Emporia RV Park and the former Western Sizzlin’ steak house.
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Posted by elbejay (anonymous) on July 2, 2007 at 7:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Mr. Miller is wrong about one thing....."Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will call in sick on Friday". Other than that, Cool story!
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