Federal stimulus aid to help Campbell in fight against neighborhood blight

By William k. Alcorn

The bulk of the money will be used for vacant home demolition, sewer work and street resurfacing.

CAMPBELL — The city is getting a long-needed financial boost from some $3.75 million in federal stimulus package money and other state and federal grants.

“This is the best news I’ve had since I’ve been mayor,” said Mayor John Dill.

Dill said $720,000 in Neighborhood Stabilization Program money will be used to erase a significant portion of the city’s blight by demolishing vacant homes and commercial buildings. The city recently received $30,000 in Community Development Block Grant funding for structure demolition, which it will use to get the project started.

Also under the stabilization program, Campbell is slated to receive $45,000 for home rehabilitation and $50,000 for a Habitat for Humanity project, Dill said.

Of extreme importance to the city’s future is another federal grant worth $700,000. The funds will be used to replace sanitary sewer lines and a lift station, thereby furthering the city’s work on preparing the former Youngstown Sheet & Tube property for redevelopment, the mayor said.

Plus, Dill said he was notified last week that the Ohio Department of Development had recommended approval of $727,149 through the Clean Ohio Revitalization Fund to clean up the former YS&T Campbell Works’ pickling line.

This is in addition to $200,000 through the Clean Ohio Fund to evaluate environmental issues on the Casey Equipment Corp. property, also in the brownfield area. The city is the fiscal agent for the Clean Ohio grant, which will enable Casey to continue developing its property at no cost to the city or to the company, Dill said.

If Casey is successful, it will provide badly needed jobs and benefit the tax base of the city, the mayor said.

The Campbell brownfield area is on former YS&T property along the Mahoning River between the Bridge Street Bridge in Struthers and the Center Street Bridge in Youngstown. The entrance is the Walton Avenue Bridge on Poland Avenue.

Other large chunks of money coming Campbell’s way are $500,000 in state Issue 1 money with which to resurface Struthers-Liberty Road and $500,000 from the federal stimulus package to resurface 12th Street.

The city’s population has dropped from about 16,000 to 9,000 since 1970, and the number of vacant homes is unbelievable,” he said.

The demolition money is the result of the city’s doing its homework for the last 18 months, Dill said.

Campbell has 136 vacant residences on the list for demolition, 68 of which have been condemned, with the assistance of the Mahoning County Health District, and are ready to be torn down. The rest are going through the condemnation process now.

“We are ready to go to work ... shovel ready. I’m sure that’s why we got the stimulus money,” he said.

Most of the homes to be demolished are in the First and Fourth wards, the oldest portions of the city.

Also, Dill said, there are a number of commercial structures, particularly along U.S. Route 422, Robinson Road and Wilson Avenue, that need to come down.

The demolition of the first 15 vacant homes will begin using $30,000 in Community Development Block Grant, the mayor said.

The vacant structures are not only a visual blight, they become dumping grounds for trash of all kinds, and are a safety and health hazard, particularly to children, Dill said.

Finally, Dill said the city received a $15,932 grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to construct new bathrooms in Roosevelt Park near the Little League and girls softball fields.

“This is a blessing for us. The city would never have been able to pay for this work on its own,” Dill said of the influx of money.

alcorn@vindy.com