COLUMBIANA COUNTY Officials vote to renew pact for emergency home repairs

The amount that can be spent on repairs for each house is limited.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- Low-income Columbiana County residents will continue getting financial help in making emergency home repairs.
County commissioners agreed Wednesday to renew a contract between the county Job and Family Services department and the Community Action Agency of Columbiana County.
The action agency, a Lisbon-based, private nonprofit organization, has people on staff who can make most the repairs covered through the program. The agency also can contract for specialists, if necessary.
The federally funded repair contract is for six months and has a ceiling of $40,000.
Aid to each household during the contract period is capped at $1,800.
Limitations: Repairs are limited to those needed to ensure a house is safe and in livable condition.
"These are not cosmetic repairs," Eileen Dray-Bardon, job and family services department director, assured commissioners.
Fixes made through the program include those to steps, the hot water heater, and the electrical system. Also covered are repairs and alterations to ensure accessibility for the handicapped.
The emergency home repair program was initiated in Columbiana County in August, and has proved successful, Dray-Bardon said.
She noted that the effort is conducted in conjunction with a separate community action agency program in which the organization repairs heating systems and installs insulation in the homes of low-income people.
That program is also federally funded.
Contract approved: Commissioners also approved a $446,300 contract with the A.P. O'Horo Co. of Youngstown to rehabilitate a bridge in Knox Township beginning in mid-August.
The bridge, which spans railroad tracks, is on Buck Road near Homeworth Road.
The project is expected to take about three months, said Bob Durbin, deputy county engineer. Traffic will be detoured during construction, Durbin said.
The project is being funded by the state.