Ford City Borough Planning Commission members and elected officials listen and take notes as Department of Community and Economic Development Planning Program Manager Dennis Puko advises the group at their last public meeting.
by Jonathan Weaver
The revitalization of Ford City Borough may not be an overnight process, but Borough officials are receiving support in the process.
At the last Borough Planning Commission meeting, three commission members, two local elected officials and part-time Borough Manager Michael Greenlee met with Department of Community and Economic Development Planning Program Manager Dennis Puko on the next steps to updating the borough’s comprehensive plan.
Puko advised Ford City leaders to create a scope of work and plan – similar to the process he underwent with the City of Jeannette (Westmoreland County). In Jeannette, leaders created a comprehensive plan to increase code enforcement and make a database to manage vacant or blighted properties and market their downtown – among other goals.
“We worked with them on a scope of work, their expectations,” Puko said. “I think they’re really doing well – they zeroed in on four particular issues, got a lot of community energy behind it.”
Planning Commission Member Richard Wakefield hopes local planners create a “living” document rather than the borough’s last comprehensive plan – which is more than 20 years old. For example, past borough planners hoped to update the zoning ordinance, but have not since the original was passed in 1976.
“The main reason we wanted to meet with Dennis was we as a group are responsible for writing the long-range plan/comprehensive plan,” Wakefield said. “As we started working on that, we realized this was a very large project and probably beyond my skill set and I quickly realized we need help.
“When we’re done, they’ll give us something that has a goal and the next few action items that will start moving you towards that goal.”
Officials have also identified a Pittsburgh-based company that could help the local community with organizational planning.
Wakefield left the meeting with a positive feeling and hopes the process is moving along within three months – a goal fellow commission member James Milligan also thought was fair.
“I would like in three months to have (the borough Planning Commission) to be locked in, we know exactly what we’re going to do, who we’re going to do it with and that we know we can fund it,” Wakefield concluded.
Borough Council President Carol Fenyes said the comprehensive plan is not the overall objective.
“Putting all the pieces together to move Ford City forward is the objective,” Fenyes said. “I’m very happy with the planning commission. I think they’re a good group of guys that are very invested in Ford City and want to see us move forward.”
Borough planning commission members hope to have Puko or Southwest Regional Office Local Government Policy Specialist Michael Foreman at future meetings. The commission meets every two weeks at the borough office.