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Jeannette council could authorize the purchase of four tax-delinquent properties on Wednesday as part of a large-scale acquisition and demolition project.
If approved by council, the city would have control over 14 blighted properties in the county's tax claim bureau repository.
“All four of these … are in valuable locations to the city,” said city manager Michael Nestico.
Jeannette officials embarked on the project in November in an effort to reduce blight. Council OK'd the allocation of $250,000 for acquisition and demolition from the city's reserve account created with $4 million in proceeds from the February 2015 sale of the city's sewer system to the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County.
Council authorized the purchase of six properties in November and four more — including the Clay Avenue site of a huge fire — in January from the repository. Not all of the purchases have been finalized, but the costs have averaged about $1,200 per parcel. Several other properties were donated to the city.
The city will get some financial help for demolitions from the Neighborhood Partnership Program, a tax-credit program through the state Department of Community and Economic Development that is led by Westmoreland Community Action.
The program has earmarked enough money to demolish five to seven properties at costs ranging from $55,000 to $90,000, said Tay Waltenbaugh, director of Westmoreland Community Action.
“We've done that in the past, and last year we just didn't do a whole lot of buildings,” he said.
The program gets $150,000 annually through tax credits purchased by Elliott Co. and Key Bank, formerly First Niagara Bank. For the rest of the expected costs, Nestico said there has been a lot of interest from contractors, which could result in a good price.
“I think there's going to be a lot of individuals putting out bids,” he said.
The four parcels up for consideration Wednesday are on Penn and Western avenues and Division and Zimmerman streets. The vacant Penn Avenue property is a “pretty sizable corner lot,” Nestico said.
The Western Avenue and Division Street structures are deteriorated. A neighboring property owner to the Zimmerman Street lot previously talked to city officials about the possibility of acquiring it for extra land, Nestico said.
Council has approved the acquisition of 10 tax delinquent properties on South Fifth, North Fourth, Lavelle, Lafferty and South Fourth streets and Penn and Clay Avenues.
Fire Chief Vance Phillips hopes to use some of the properties for training, provided the city's insurance carrier gives the OK. Firefighters could use the buildings for confined-space and survival training, and maybe even as a fire simulation, he said.
“There is a little bit of an asset to us,” Phillips said.
Renatta Signorini is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 724-837-5374 or rsignorini@tribweb.com.
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