Nov 6, 2018 3 min read

An infusion of cash the city received from local slots revenue is helping city officials move forward with plans to winnow down its list of properties slated for demolition.

“Without that source of funding, we wouldn’t be able to accomplish nearly as much of this blight remediation that you see going on in the city,” said Washington City Council President Joe Manning.

An allotment of $200,000 to demolish properties in the city was among three checks that Washington County commissioners presented late last week from the local share account, a pot of money that comes from gaming at The Meadows Casino in North Strabane Township, for different projects in the city. The fund is administered by the Washington County Redevelopment Authority, and municipalities and organizations can apply every year for a share of that money.

The funds the city received can be used to demolish about 20 properties, officials said. Lynn Galluze, the city’s computer systems coordinator, said the city put up $50,000 in community development block grant funds when it applied for the local share money. Manning said the city relies heavily on those funds to help with its efforts to tear down houses.

The city has already entered into a $102,500 contract with Pittsburgh firm Jadell Minniefield Construction Services to tear down 13 of the houses this fall. Code enforcement officer Ron McIntyre said one of the houses already is down.

Rob Phillips, assistant community development director for the redevelopment authority, said officials deemed Minniefield the lowest responsible bidder out of three companies that sought the contract.

The list of properties that have been identified for demolition pending title searches, public hearings and other required procedural steps includes 25 additional properties, he said. He added that some have been on the list “since eight years ago when I started here,” while others were placed on it more recently.

Galluze said officials are applying again this year for $300,000 in local share money for demolition, again with community development grant funds as the city’s matching contribution.

Of the local share funds, another $200,000 is going to the nonprofit Citywide Development Corp., which administers a housing-rehabilitation program for residents of the city’s West End neighborhood whose income falls below a certain threshold, allowing them to receive loans of as much as $24,500 and bring the properties into compliance with the building code.

Phillips estimated the local share funds would allow for repairs to seven houses. Recipients must meet certain income requirements. For example, the income cap is $48,650 for a two-member household.

The loans are structured in a way that allows for full forgiveness if the recipients remain in their houses for 10 years.

“The purpose of the program is to keep people in their houses,” Phillips said.

Finally, $30,000 went to the Washington Business District Authority, which will put up $18,000 more of its own money for a program aimed at improving the outside of buildings in the city’s 14-square-block business district.

The façade improvement program allows businesses and property owners in the district to seek up to $5,000 for upgrades to their buildings’ exteriors. Thirteen applicants were selected for this round.

Local share revenue “has helped grow the façade project initiative to enable more sites and more projects to be visually impactful in the district,” said Will Prince, Main Street manager for the authority.