- Last Updated on Friday, 09 April 2021 15:20
Thanks to a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED), the City of Monessen will be able to more effectively address blight, and plan for future growth. The City received notification, that it will receive $36,450 in grant funding, through the DCED Strategic Management Planning Program to enter into Phase II of the program to assist Monessen with training, professional consulting, and technical services.
“I am thankful for DCED’s continued support for Monessen and our future growth,” stated Monessen Mayor Matt Shorraw. “I’m really excited to see the data and plans that come from this program. It will greatly help carve out a path for the City’s Planning, Zoning, and Blight boards, as well as City Government as a whole. I know that this is just one of more great things to come.”
The grant will specifically help to develop a five-step process for the City to more effectively address blight; provide code enforcement capacity building, by helping to digitize the code enforcement office; and helping with feasibility in participating in the Westmoreland County Land Bank, which the City vote to join in February.
The program will help to provide training to the Monessen Planning Commission, Monessen Zoning Board, and the newly formed Monessen Blighted Property Review Board, all of which have all of their respective positions filled with members.
The City will work with DCED, the Local Government Academy, and the Pennsylvania Housing Alliance to implement this project.
