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Struthers starts neighborhood blight fight
By JEANNE STARMACK
starmack@vindy.com
Struthers
Photo
Struthers Mayor Terry Stocker watches as employees of Maverick Contractors of Lisbon demolish a house at 203 Poland Ave. in Struthers Wednesday.
The city is getting rid of some eyesores — 12 of them to start.
With the demolition Wednesday of an old house at 203 Poland Ave., the takedown of blight with federal Neighborhood Stabilization Funds has begun.
Maverick Construction of Lisbon is tearing down the first 12 of 44 abandoned houses the city earmarked for demolition — Mahoning County is administering the projects. Struthers’ portion of the funds is around $550,000, including $100,000 to give toward two Habitat for Humanity projects. Maverick will be paid $31,000 for the 12 and has 45 days to finish the demolitions.
Mayor Terry Stocker says he’s especially excited about the razing of 203 Poland — he campaigned to become mayor in 2008 with a promise to get rid of it.
“It caught our eye. It was on a state route [616] and in deplorable condition,” he said.
“One of my campaign promises was to eliminate slums and blight,” he continued.
Ed Wildes, safety services director, said that once a house is abandoned, the city goes through a process to condemn it.
Typically, a complaint from a resident about a blighted property sets that process in motion.
Wildes and the fire chief check the property. If they decide it should be condemned, they notify the owner, who has 10 days to respond.
If no one responds, the city has the utilities shut off, and the property is condemned.
What to do with the empty lots is another matter the city has to take into consideration. Many of them are not city-owned.
Stocker said Struthers maintains the lots, cutting grass at 65 properties throughout the city already. The city likely will do the same with the new vacant lots.
Wildes said that on some of the lots, the city has liens of thousands of dollars for years of grass cutting.
Other houses to be demolished in the first round include 63 Hawthorne St.; 176 Park Ave.; 627 Garfield St.; 434 Eighth St.; 37 Center St.; 128 McClure St.; 51 McClure St.; 32 Narcissa St.; 310 Lowellville Road; 57 Riffle St., and 315 Woodbine Ave.