Staff report

NEW CASTLE, PA.

A $246,400 state grant will fund efforts to revitalize the city’s structural and economic landscape.

Since January 2007, the city has been designated a fiscally distressed municipality and has operated under the terms of a recovery plan.

State Rep. Chris Sainato of Union Township, Lawrence County, D-9th, who announced the grant, said the funding “is terrific news for New Castle, whose residents have endured challenges posed by urban blight and aging infrastructure that have impacted the local economy, as well as quality of life. Although the city has made great strides on the path to recovery, the grant funding is critical to ensuring ongoing progress.”

The funding is:

$80,000 to update the city’s comprehensive plan to reflect new development, zoning and land-use changes since 2005.

$75,000 to develop regional approaches to providing services traditionally handled by individual governments and to study shared service and possibly merger opportunities with one or more of the smaller neighboring municipalities.

$65,000 to fund an assessment of facilities used in daily municipal operations so the city can proactively forecast and prioritize capital needs.

$25,000 to continue the study of its park system and implementation of a master site plan.

$1,400 to supplement the work of the project manager on a previously funded storm-water management program.

“With the ongoing projects made possible by this funding, we’ll soon be talking about helping the city not just recover, but thrive,” Sainato said.