Board: Let fund fight blight

The deteriorating structures pose public health and safety concerns.

By WILLIAM K. ALCORN

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

The Mahoning County District Board of Health wants to establish a revolving loan fund to help townships and villages attack the blight of abandoned and condemned buildings.

At this point, the problem is financially manageable, said Matthew Stefanak, county health commissioner.

Using public nuisance and health regulations, the board of health has, since 2000, issued orders to demolish or clean up 20 abandoned structures around the county that the property owners have not obeyed.

The deteriorating structures pose public health and safety concerns, Stefanak said.

Youngstown, Struthers and Campbell, which have a much greater number of abandoned structures, are not included in the county health board’s effort, because they have their own health departments.

Stefanak said cities spend $2,000 to $3,000 to demolish each nuisance property. Using those figures as a barometer, he estimates only about $40,000 to $60,000 would be needed to demolish and clean up those 20 structures listed by the board.

Lack of money

However, despite the relatively modest sum needed for demolition, some of the smaller townships, either because they don’t have the experience or the upfront money, are unable to move forward with demolition and cleanup, Stefanak said.

For instance, Milton Township has a number of structures that should be demolished, but neither the owners nor the township have the necessary money, said Harold Moore, township trustee.

In other cases, the property owners are financial institutions that have foreclosed; are out of the area and difficult to find; or are deceased, Stefanak said.

In the hopes of finding some money to address the problem, health department officials are scheduled to meet with county commissioners next week to discuss freeing up grant funds for that purpose.

“We hope the commissioners will allocate money through the county’s Community Development Block Grant revolving loan fund or allocate other grant money for a revolving loan fund to be administered by the health board,” Stefanak said.

Dealing with it now

Also, the health commissioner said the board is looking at other areas of potential funding, including trying to interest the county’s Solid Waste Policy Committee because of the materials in some of the structures that could be recycled.

While the blight problem in the county is not overwhelming at this point, if it is let go indefinitely, it could become much larger and more expensive to deal with, the health commissioner said.

He referred to the so-called “broken window” syndrome.

A broken window or littered sidewalk or graffiti does no great harm to a neighborhood if promptly addressed.

However, the problem can escalate if left unattended, according to a theory described in 1982 by James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling in an article “Broken Windows: The Police and Neighborhood Safety.”

According to the article, an unattended problem sends a signal that no one cares about the neighborhood, that it is a safe place to break things, to litter and to vandalize.

Health issues

Simply put, “Little things lead to big things,” Stefanak said.

The abandoned structures also create public health issues, which is the avenue the county board of health used to involve itself in the issue.

Abandoned swimming pools collect stagnant water, which is a prime breeding ground for mosquitoes and a safety hazard for people who could fall in and be injured or drowned.

Debris and litter attracts rats and raccoons, which are a potential threat as rabies carriers, Stefanak said.

“We are the logical agency to deal with this problem,” said health board member Donald Somers.

“We have the statutory authority to abate the nuisance and recover the cost through property liens, which would replenish the revolving loan fund,” Stefanak said.