Commissioners address housing project
The kitchen at a home in Bobtown before renovation work began several months ago.
The kitchen at the home in Bobtown after work crews spent months working on the renovation project on Adelaide Street.
WAYNESBURG – Greene County commissioners are expected today to approve the transfer from the 2013 Pennsylvania Housing Affordability and Rehabilitation Enhancement Fund award contract from the county’s redevelopment authority to the Accessible Dreams housing project in Jefferson.
The purpose of the transfer of approximately $43,000 is to cover uncommitted gap funding for the project and the cost of demolition of two structures on the site.
It was explained following the commissioners’ agenda meeting Wednesday that this action is tied in to the county’s ambitious housing program. The program was launched six months ago when the redevelopment authority purchased a house at 193 Adelaide St. in Bobtown and completely rehabilitated the structure using labor provided by inmates in SCI-Greene’s Community Works Program.
Funding for the program and projects is made available through PHARE and the Marcellus Shale impact fees.
In 2013, Greene County received $600,000 for a rehabilitative and development program for scattered sites across the county, and $514,164 for a quadraplex (Accessible Dreams) in Jefferson Borough.
The rehabilitative program, which is administered by the redevelopment authority outlined 24 blighted or underutilized properties, 16 of which can be turned into housing projects.
The intent is to make these properties habitable and return them to the tax rolls.
Following is a breakdown of the properties’ status:
• Three are currently owned by the redevelopment authority.
• Ten have gone to judicial sale, and it was the intention of the redevelopment authority to purchase them.
• Six are in the tax repository and will be purchased through a private bid by the redevelopment authority.
• Four are in foreclosure, and one is adjacent to an existing redevelopment authority-owned property.
• Eight of the parcels are in Jefferson Township; four in Cumberland Township; two in Dunkard Township; four in Franklin Township; four in Jefferson Borough; and two in Waynesburg Borough.
The house in Bobtown, which his scheduled for completion this summer, sat vacant for nine years and as expected, gradual deterioration became evident.
Dave Mirkovich, executive director of the redevelopment authority, estimated the inmates have put in a total of 1,300 hours on the project. “Their labor is basically what will make this work,” he said.
A contractor hired to do the project could have cost the authority as much as $70,000, but the average sale price of a two-bedroom house in Bobtown similar to the one being restored is only about $38,000.
The goal of the authority’s housing program is to restore blighted properties and to sell them, making a small profit to allow the authority to complete additional homes and to generate operating income for the authority.
However, some of its houses are simply too deteriorated to be restored and will be razed primarily to remove blight from the community. Others houses the authority may have to sink more money into to repair than it will receive from their sales.
With respect to the quad unit in Jefferson, the application was made by Accessible Dreams, an affiliate organization of Tri-County Patriots for Independent Living.
This four-unit structure will contain two fully accessible two-bedroom units on the ground floor for persons wheelchair accessibility, and two additional two bedroom units on the second floor for individuals needing affordable rental housing.
Rental assistance will be provided for two of the units through the county’s housing authority and referrals will come through the Greene County Office of Human Services, Southwestern Area Agency on Aging and TRIPIL.