Austintown leaders raise concerns about withholding grant funds to raze homes

By Elise Franco

efranco@vindy.com

Austintown

Trustees want to know why a half-dozen homes torn down by the township don’t qualify for reimbursement through a Neighborhood Stabilization grant.

David Ditzler, board chairman, said he and Trustees Lisa Oles and James Davis are seeking answers from Mahoning County.

The Neighborhood Stabilization Program is federal funding managed and distributed by Mahoning County to communities within the county. The program began April 1, 2009.

Diztler said nearly $60,000 of the total $1.9 million grant was earmarked for the demolition of homes in Austintown, but only about $1,800 has been used so far.

He said six or seven homes in different parts of the township have come down, costing taxpayers about $10,000.

“Every time we tried to utilize the funds, we were told it’s not applicable because the money is only good for one quadrant of the township,” he said.

Anna DeAscentis, Mahoning County Commissioners grants business manager, said the reason Austintown hasn’t seen much of the money is that to qualify, homes slated for demolition must meet strict federal guidelines.

“An extensive review of documentation on foreclosure rates, abandonment rates and vacancy rates was done,” she said. “In using that data three census tracts were the areas that qualified [in Austintown.]”

DeAscentis said most of the qualifying homes were in the western part of the township close to Youngstown.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com