TRUMBULL COUNTY In Warren, demolition, resurfacing top CDBG list

The amount awarded to the city is based on population and need.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Demolition of condemned houses, street resurfacing and the Kinsman House project make up the largest allocations in the city's $1.56 million 2005 Community Development Block Grant program.
City council approved the funding application last week.
A 15-member citizens committee received 35 requests totaling $2.37 million in funding. Committee members picked 29 social programs and projects among which the $1.56 million would be appropriated.
The 2005 anticipated allocation is down slightly from the $1.57 million received for 2004. In 2003, the amount was $1.67 million.
Michael Keys, community development director, said the exact amount of next year's allocation won't be known until Congress passes the 2005 budget.
The amount communities receive is based on a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development formula that takes both population and need into account. That formula considers poverty level, housing and unemployment.
Biggest chunk
The largest amount, $313,600, goes to program administration, providing money to operate the city's community development department which oversees projects and to provide fair housing services throughout the city.
The $300,000 allocated for code/demolition and Mahoningside will supply the $175,200 annual repayment for the Ohio Water Development Authority loan for cleaning up the former Mahoningside Power Plant site, with the remainder for demolishing condemned buildings in the city.
The committee also appropriated $200,000 each to street resurfacing in areas that meet CDBG income guidelines and the Riverwalk/Kinsman House project. The money will fund the Kinsman House and Land Title Office exterior reconstruction.
Committee members include six appointees selected by Mayor Michael J. O'Brien; council members Gary Fonce, D-at large, and James A. "Doc" Pugh, D-6th, and Virginia Bufano, D-1st; and three appointees each from those three council members. They spent two days reviewing requests and determining the appropriations.
The council members are on council's community development committee.
Happy with the work
"I was very satisfied and appreciative of the work the committee did," said Fonce, who chairs council's community development committee. "It was a joy to do it for the first time."
He plans to call a meeting within a few weeks to determine if there's a way to eliminate duplication of services. Some requests from different agencies asked for funding to provide the same or similar services, Fonce said.
Some programs and projects selected requested CDBG funding for the first time this year.
One of those programs, the Solace Center, located at Vine and High streets, received $10,000 for its visitation program. The program will assist low-income city residents who are noncustodial parents in paying the fee for a supervised visit with their children.
The Trumbull County Chapter of the American Red Cross will receive $5,000 for its Home Alone program. Red Cross representatives will visit third-grade classrooms throughout the city offering instructions for how children who are home alone can address issues that arise.
denise_dick@vindy.com