Some dilapidated homes in Bradford will face the wrecking ball this year.
During a meeting held Tuesday evening, Bradford City Council approved executing a grant contract for Community Development Block Grant entitlement funding totalling $269,615.
Sara Andrews, executive director of the city’s Office of Economic and Community Development, said after the meeting that some of the funds will be used to demolish homes. She said she doesn’t know yet what houses will be demolished, as the board of health plays a part in that process.
The CDBG money will also go toward a multimillion-dollar Main Street streetscape project intended to replace aging street infrastructure, improve pedestrian safety and create a better-looking downtown. The project is expected to be bid out later this year with construction commencing in 2019, Andrews said.
The amount of entitlement funding the city received is about $3,000 less than last year, Andrews said.
Also at the meeting, council approved a certificate of appropriateness to McDonald’s USA LLC to remove and replace the mansard roof with a vertical parapet wall, paint existing brick and remove the play place at the property at 141 Main St.
The stucco on the main portion of the building surface will be taupe in color with entry and brand walls colored iron mountain grey. The building will be accented with a corrugated metal parapet wall near the roofline and white trellis systems with canopies over entrances. Signage will be lit with light-emitting diodes.
“It’ll be much more appropriate than the existing building,” said Jeff Andrews, OECD housing rehabilitation director/construction manager who sits on the Historical Architectural Review Board.
In other business, council:
• Authorized the execution of a contract between the city and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees District Council 85, covering Jan. 1, 2018, through Dec. 31, 2020. City administrator Teri Cannon said that about eight clerical employees are included in this union.
• Approved a $7,800 payment to BTU Supply from the OECD’s Small Cities-Elm Street Neighborhood account for the installation of a forced air heating and air conditioning system in a house under construction at 52 Elm St.
• Approved a $2,670.37 payment to Casella Waste Management of PA Inc. from the OECD’s 2016 CDBG account for the disposal of debris from 117 West Corydon and 1 Amm streets.
• Permitted advertising civil service testing for firefighter/paramedic. This is to establish an eligibility list for firefighter/paramedic and firefighter/EMT for the city’s ambulance and fire department.
The next regularly scheduled council meeting will be held at 7 p.m. March 13.
