Property issues ranging from the demolition of several dilapidated houses to street paving and the acquisition of two city parks crowded the agenda at an Oil City Council meeting Thursday.
Council accepted a bid of $53,580 from Bert Klapec Inc. of Oil City to raze seven houses this year. The structures are all owned by the City of Oil City, which purchased them out of the county land bank or from the delinquent tax repository.
Due for demolition are houses at 6 Cherry Alley, 100 Grove Ave., 180 Glenview Ave., 2 High St., 3 Harold St., 108 E. Bissell Ave. and 11 Mylan St. A combination of local funds and Community Development Block Grant monies will be used to pay for the work.
Council members approved a request to purchase the properties from the land bank and repository.
Slated for demolition will be houses at 138 Charlton St., 28 Halyday St., 27 Plummer St., 37 Plummer St., 235 1/2 Bissell Ave., 157 Crawford St. and 390 Colbert Ave. The latter two properties were transferred to the city by the owners.
The city will advertise for demolition bids.
Noting the total demolition list of 14 houses was higher than normal, council member Ron Gustafson said, “We are making good progress.”
Councilman Mike Walentosky said he appreciated the city’s efforts and noted, “Blight is one of the biggest problems we have in the city.”
City manager Mark Schroyer said the “downside” of owning the vacant lots once the houses are razed is city maintenance.
“The city will own those lots and we need a plan to try and market those lots and get them into the private sector,” he said. “We have a lot of them and … there are strings attached to them (as to their sale) when we use CDBG funds.”
Greene also told council five private property owners have notified the city that they are razing their houses.
Parks and paving
Council also formally approved the transfer of two open green areas within the city from the Redevelopment Authority to the city. The properties are the King Memorial Park along Main Street and Town Square on the former Brody Block area.
Another property-related topic was city street paving. Schroyer said the 2021 paving projects will “be in excess of $500,000.”
“It is a pretty healthy paving program this year,” he said.
One paving area that will claim much of the overall expense will be the length of Orange Street on the city’s South Side.
“It will be one of the most expensive … and I have a concern about the underlying water line, part of which may have to be replaced,” he said.
In other business Thursday, council approved appointments to three city boards. Isaiah Dunham and Mayor Bill Moon will represent the city on the Council of Governments (COG) board. The pension board appointments included: employees – Moon and Gustafson; fire – Moon and Dunham; police – Moon and Walentosky.
Two vacancies remain on the city’s Planning Commission. Interested persons may contact city hall to submit an application for those posts.
Council also accepted a revised set of bylaws for the Oil City Arts Council. Council president Evelyn Wheeler presented the updated bylaws.
College details shared
Juliet Hillburn of the Northern Pennsylvania Regional College offered a brief outline of the new institution’s offerings. The two-year Warren-based college offers associate degrees and certifications in numerous fields, she said.
There are remote classes now underway and those may change to an in-person class setting this spring at the Venango Area Technology Center in Oil City.
“We are very affordable because we want to make it so everyone can go,” said Hillburn, adding that high school students will be offered dual enrollments while they are in school.
“We worked with local manufacturers to see what they needed,” she said. “And we can also do customized training for employers.”
Hillburn said the college offers associate degree programs in business administration, criminal justice, early childhood education, liberal studies and social sciences. In addition, a range of certification courses that include emergency medical services, commercial drivers’ licensing, industrial maintenance, hydraulics, medical terminology, machine shop and more are offered.
