Wyoming County Allocates and Modifies CDBG Funding

On Dec. 26, the Wyoming County Commissioners (top) took into consideration and unanimously passed a pair of grant proposals presented by Wyoming County Housing & Redevelopment Authority grants administrator Lisa Hahn (above).

Photos and Story by Rick Hiduk

(As published in the Jan. 4 edition of the Rocket-Courier)

During their last public meeting of 2017, the Wyoming County Commissioners approved the disbursement of $236,069 that will benefit municipalities and county residents. The funds were a sum of two requests by the Housing & Redevelopment Authority (HRA) that included modification of an older contract to advance a demolition project in Meshoppen.

Commissioner Tom Henry made the motion to temporarily close the regular commissioners meeting and open a public meeting of the HRA during which grants administrator Lisa Hahn presented the budget narrative for the 2017 CDBG proposal. Hahn had last visited the commissioners on Nov. 28, when she announced that the agency would accept applications through Dec. 15 for the annual disbursement.

No applications were received during that time period, which allows HRA to defer the funds to the County-Wide Housing Rehabilitation Program, as well as for demolition and clearance projects to eliminate blight and slum in municipalities. Hahn noted that, in lieu of applications, she had fielded several inquiries regarding blighted properties and had therefore earmarked the maximum of 30 percent of available funding – $21,649 after administration costs – for demolition of vacant structures.

On the topic of blight, the commissioners expressed frustration that CBDG funds have been unavailable for the removal of vacant mobile homes from properties because the owners of the trailers are not the same as the property owners. Hahn said that she is also working on getting those entities to collaborate for available funding.

More than $155,000 has been set aside for improvements and repairs to existing residents for eligible low– to medium-income county residents, $5,000 for an environmental review record, and $39,972 for general administration of the grants. Improvements can include new furnaces, plumbing repairs, siding, roof repairs, and other work that will help keep residents in their homes. Hahn noted that the waiting lists for such repairs is long, however, at about 125 applicants.

A second matter of HRA business specifically addressed a blighted property in the borough Meshoppen. The former B&H Pizza Shop next to Meshoppen Creek has been targeted for demolition for the past decade. Hahn has maintained that bids solicited by the borough in 2013 – ranging from $44,000 to $63,000 – for removing the structure were insufficient due to the proximity of the deteriorated building to the adjacent library and nearby bridge.

The HRA solicited an estimate from Milnes Engineering suggesting that an additional $14,000 would be needed to complete the demolition. Hahn was able to find this amount as unused funds from 2014 and asked the commissioners for a modification of that year’s budget to move the needed $14,000 into the 2013 allocation, making $74,000 available for the Meshoppen project, including $6,000 from the borough.

Hahn noted as well that owners of a business in the block were among applicants for a PEMA/CBDG buyout of flooded properties that proved contentious in 2017. Hahn conceded that part of the delay in having the pizza shop demolished involved HRA efforts to have that building dismantled at the same time.

It would be much easier to take down both structures,” Hahn stated. At this time, however, PEMA is not willing to consider commercial structures as part of the buyout. Hahn related that she will continue to try to get a variance from PEMA prior to the start of demolition project. “Meshoppen could use a major renovation,” she remarked.

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