Ford City Council Vice-President Tyson Klukan expressed frustration at the December 16th public meeting, faulting the Armstrong School District for not joining the Armstrong County Land Bank.
Ford City Councilman Tyson Klukan blamed the Armstrong School District (ASD) for not being willing to fight blight in middle Armstrong County.
Last December, the Armstrong County Commissioners adopted an ordinance creating a Land Bank. It was available for any municipality or school district to participate.
According to ASD Solicitor Lee Price, the purpose of the Land Bank would be to “acquire property that is generally dilapidated, abandoned, or have a lot of delinquent taxes on it. Their goal is to spur improvement in neighborhoods by acquiring these properties, then ‘flipping’ them to another owner who would agree to make various improvements for particular uses of the property.”
Kittanning, Ford City, and East Franklin Township immediately joined the Land Bank, but school directors dragged their feet. ASD School Board President Dr. Paul Lobby expressed his concern.
“So the downside to us is that we are losing 50% of tax dollars (for five years), but there may not be any tax dollars being generated on these properties anyway,” Lobby said during a January 2019 public meeting. “The upside is we are helping to get properties back on the tax roles.”
Lobby said he was bothered that ASD would not have a representative on the Land Bank Board.
“Since our contribution would be the biggest contribution financially to this, it would be nice to at least have some input into the operation - even if it was just on an advisory capacity, even if we weren’t necessarily on the Board. They are asking a lot but not giving us (the ability to provide) input.”
Ford City Councilman Marc Mantini expressed disappointment with the Armstrong School District’s decision to not participate in the Armstrong County Land Bank. Councilwoman Beth Bowser (left) said Ford City should not attempt to acquire properties without funding to rehabilitate them.
When ASD could not secure a spot on the Land Bank Board, they decided not to participate. That decision was a big mistake, Klukan said at the December 16th Ford City Council meeting.
“A lot of money has been shifted to the southern end of the county since Apollo-Ridge and Leechburg school districts joined the Land Bank,” Klukan claims. “The county and boroughs were willing to work with the Land Bank, but the efforts were thwarted because ASD could not see the value in cleaning up blighted properties.”
Ford City was specifically looking for $12,000 to tear down a 9th Street property. Additionally, a property on Ridge Avenue is now in the county repository and could be purchased by the Borough for $1. But without Land Bank help, the Borough doesn’t have the money to spend on rehabilitating properties.
Price said the Land Bank has the ability to apply for grants or tap into Foundations for money to acquire properties.
Councilwoman Beth Bowser did not want to see the Borough acquire properties without funding.
“Wilkensburg started a blight program four years ago and has been successful. They are doing a terrific job acquiring properties,” Bowser said. “Until we have a similar program in place, where are these funds going to come from to take it down? We are not ready to purchase properties yet.”
“ASD is hurting communities by not approving (participation in) blight programs,” Councilman Marc Mantini said. “Now that ASD has rejected it, it brings down property values for us all.”
Council President Carol Fenyes said she would contact Brigid Beatty at the county to determine if there are any funds available.
Calls by the Kittanning Paper to Ms. Beatty were not returned.