MERCER COUNTY Rating drops for housing authority

The rating dropped from high performance to standard performance.
SHARON, Pa. -- The Mercer County Housing Authority's federal rating of its annual performance dropped slightly in the fiscal year ended June 30.
L. DeWitt Boosel, authority executive director, said the authority's Public Housing Assessment System report for the year showed a rating of 85 out of 100 possible points.
That's a standard performance rating which is good, but not as good as the 92 or high performance rating the authority received for the previous year, he said, after a housing authority meeting Wednesday.
The rating is done by the federal Department of Housing & amp; Urban Development, which provides funding for the authority.
The rating is determined by performance submissions provided by the authority, a residents' survey and authority audit and financial reports.
The authority was cautioned about the high turnaround time for renting out vacated apartments in the past, and that was a problem again in the latest PHAS report, Boosel said.
HUD also cited some maintenance issues which the authority has already begun to address, he said.
Also on agenda
In other matters, the authority:
* Awarded contracts for heating improvements at the Federal Street Center at 211 Federal St. in Farrell. Sheehan Plumbing & amp; Heating of Sharpsville was given a $94,600 contract to replace building temperature controls and the boiler while R.L. Abatement Inc. of Hopewell, Pa., was given a $17,980 contract to remove asbestos from materials insulating the building's heating ducts.
* Announced that it will open bids at 2 p.m. Wednesday for the exterior modernization of the Frank Fay Terrace apartment complex on Maple Drive in Pymatuning Township. Federal funds will be used to pay for the work.