FARRELL, SHARON Area considered for Weed and Seed

The program can provide money for everything from beefed-up law enforcement to employment training.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
FARRELL, Pa. -- Farrell and Sharon officials may apply jointly for assistance from a state program that will help them clean up and revitalize high-crime areas.
The cities have until May 15 to apply for up to $185,000 from the Pennsylvania Weed and Seed Initiative.
Carl Anderson, director of the program, was in Farrell on Tuesday to meet with officials from both municipalities to explain how the program can help.
It's a partnership between a community and law enforcement, Anderson said, noting five Weed and Seed sites have been funded so far: Lancaster, Chester, York, Easton and Norristown.
The state has invited nine locations in Western Pennsylvania, including the Farrell-Sharon area, to apply for three available grants for new sites, Anderson said.
Targets: The goal is to target a relatively small area with a population between 6,000 and 10,000, he said, noting the grant can be used to boost policing efforts to clear a community of drug trafficking and other illegal activity, and to help develop programs to revitalize the community.
Farrell is targeting an area roughly bounded by Darr Avenue on the west, Beechwood Avenue on the east and Roemer Boulevard on the south, stretching north to the Sharon city line at George Street.
Sharon would target an area from George Street north to Prindle Street and bounded by Dock Street on the west and New Castle Avenue on the east.
Money: Farrell Mayor William Morocco said the Weed and Seed program could supply $185,000 a year for three years to help fund the project.
The cities would have to match 25 percent of that amount for the first year, 50 percent in the second and 75 percent in the third, he said.
Anderson said supplemental funds may also be available for juvenile-crime prevention programs as well as broader community programs.
Uses: The Weed and Seed money can be used to hire a coordinator for a joint study with state police on the targeted area to identify and arrest drug traffickers, he said.
It can also fund police saturation patrols and even a special prosecutor to handle crime in the targeted area, he said.
The cities can hire a coordinator to help develop revitalization plans that could include after-school programs for children, employment training for adults and community policing, Anderson said.
"It's a good opportunity," Morocco said, adding he hopes the two municipal councils will vote to apply for the funds.