Apr 21, 2016 2 min read

MONESSEN – The financially strapped city of Monessen Thursday hired an independent code enforcement firm to assist it in eliminating its overwhelming blight problem along with other property maintenance issues.

Council voted unanimously to partner with Code Enforcement Associates of Jefferson Hills after hearing a proposal from its president, Craig McVicker.

“We are well versed in the state Blight Act,” said McVicker, whose company will charge the city $41 an hour to work two days a week in Monessen.

The blight problem continues to worsen in this Westmoreland County city, prompting Mayor Lou Mavrakis to pen a letter this month to President Obama asking for his help.

“This job has made a beggar out of me,” Mavrakis said.

In his letter to Obama, the mayor stated the once-booming steelmaking city lost nearly half of its population since the industry collapsed in the 1980s, and it now has nearly 400 blighted houses in its neighborhoods.

“If our government gives billions of dollars to foreign governments, why cannot our federal government help our city?” Mavrakis stated in the letter. “The very communities that built America are now suffering the worst.”

Meanwhile, council also authorized the city’s engineer to prepare specifications and advertise for bids from contractors for the possible demolition of 12 buildings.

The city isn’t having a cash-flow problem, its solicitor said Thursday, but it does have an estimated long-term debt of $13.5 million. It’s 50-year-old concrete roads are crumbling or collapsing in many places.

“The streets are at crisis stage,” Mavrakis said.

He reminded the public that city officials are aware of Monessen’s problems and working hard to address them.