Jul 26, 2017 4 min read

Monessen City Council on Tuesday discussed the Repository Project, a citywide effort to take over vacant properties in order to help control blight.

Council unanimously approved payment of $6,712.50 from the general fund to Westmoreland County Recorder of Deeds for 15 woodland properties, or hillsides. These woodland properties are the final 15 properties on the repository list.

Solicitor Krisha DiMascio said the city has now officially taken ownership of all of the properties on the list. She said officials have worked with a list the county put together of severely tax-delinquent properties, which includes roughly 340 properties.

She said 49 of the properties have decaying structures, but most of them are woodland/hillside properties and vacant lots. She said the city also received funding for demolition to remove the decaying structures. DiMascio said the city purchases the properties on the repository list with state funds and pays the county the transfer fees. She said the properties are then offered for sale to residents for roughly $200.

DiMascio said this project helps to avoid sheriff’s sales and gives the city control of the properties so it can sell them and get them back on the tax rolls. She said the program also includes funding for first-time homebuyers and was involved with the Eisenberg apartment building project. Thus far, she said, 30 of these properties have been sold to homeowners in the community.

Mayor Lou Mavrakis said, when he was elected, one of his main goals was to remove blight from the community, so he went through the streets of Monessen and made a list of the blighted properties. He said many of these blighted properties are on the repository list, but there are some still left that were not on the list that the city is working to address.

Mavrakis said the city has taken on many properties through the program, adding them to the parks and other properties the city maintains, but the city is unable to afford to hire more employees at this time to handle the maintenance. DiMascio said that is why the goal is to have residents purchase these lots and take over the responsibility for the maintenance. She said the lots are sold on a first-come, first-served basis to homeowners who do not have delinquent taxes, code violations or owe any fees to the city.

Mavrakis said another way the city is reducing maintenance for these lots is by having contractors plant “no-mow” grass after demolition is complete. He said this type of grass grows only to about four inches. Mavrakis said some of the lots might also be covered in gravel after demolition.

“I think the repository is focused on the residential, and I think that thanks to the county and the state and our public officials, we are making real headway. It’s slow, but we’re making real headway on the residential side,” DiMascio said.

DiMascio said state lawmakers and county commissioners have been instrumental in helping Monessen with the program.

“They are really paying attention to Monessen,” she said.

She said the county coordinates this project with the city and the state. “The commissioners have really been pushing for us to get state funding,” said DiMascio, adding commissioners Gina Cerilli and Charles Anderson have come to the city and “walked” the projects with them numerous times.

She said the state is very pleased with the effort and would like to continue with it. “We have to finish this one up, and then hopefully we’ll have another wave,” DiMascio said.

Resident Adrianna Ottaviani addressed the board regarding the steps she needs to take to keep more than two dogs on her property. DiMasico said owning more than two dogs is considered a kennel under the city ordinance. She said Ottaviani can file a variance application with the city, which will be reviewed by the city zoning board. She also advised Ottaviani that if she wants to have this ordinance revisited and changed for all residents, she will have to bring it to council. DiMascio said if she chooses to bring it to council, the review of the ordinance will have to be advertised.

Council also approved the Monessen Rotary Zombie 5K Run/Walk Race. Kristen Joseph represented Rotary at the meeting and said the organization will hold the race at 9 a.m. Oct. 21. She said students from Douglas Education Center will be doing zombie makeup for participants. Joseph said the funds the students raise doing makeup will go back into helping them pay for their education. She said the race will begin at the city park, go down Parente Boulevard and back the park.