Editor’s note: The Sunday Dispatch recently had a roundtable discussion with Pittston Mayor Michael Lombardo; Joe Moskovitz, city administrator; Joe Chacke, Redevelopment Authority executive director; Mary Kuna, Redevelopment Authority deputy executive director; Mary Kroptavich, Main Street coordinator; and former city mayor Jason Klush, city treasurer, to discuss the latest plans for the city. This is the second of a two-part series to come out of that discussion.
PITTSTON – As a new decade dawns, Mayor Michael Lombardo is directing his attention to blighted properties.
“It’s getting harder and harder to acquire grants and funds for the city,” he said. “Joe (Moskovitz) and Mary (Kuna) are looking into the inventory we have and looking how to make it productive or how do we sell it off.”
Lombardo during his time as mayor and former mayor Jason Klush both have been very interested in preserving history and historical landmarks such as the former Fort Pittston School at the corner of Parsonage and Main Streets.
“We don’t want to tear down buildings,” Lombardo said. “Let me make this clear. We’re not buying things helter skelter; we’re buying things with a plan of disposition like the gateway project where the bank is. We’re not going to be swayed by ignorant or uninformed public opinion. We’re going to move forward on these projects because it’s proven it’s the right thing to do.”
“If you take a quick snapshot of what’s going on here would be to look at the Kridlo Bridge area, look at (Cee Kay Auto) that just closed, that’s going to change the complexion of the block there,” Moskovitz said. “Those are the changing conditions that we want to take advantage of in being able to vision that area in the same way Mike (Lombardo) envisioned the town 20 to 30 years ago.”
Blighted properties in the city have been such a problem that Lombardo addressed them during his first tenure as mayor. Under his leadership, many homes and commercial building have been razed to make way for new construction and/or ownership.
“We’re not going to borrow money to do demo,” Lombardo said. “We are focusing on a few really bad conditions in some neighborhoods where homes really need to be taken down and, through the Land Bank and the Redevelopment Authority, we’re going to take care of it.”
According to Joe Chalke, an estimated 20 buildings have been razed, totaling approximately $400,000 in demolition value.
“Some of those homes have been problems from the 70s,” Chacke said.
Another key project set for 2020 is the Fort Pittston School project that will be a complete makeover, turning it into a 17-unit rental property.
“When Joe (Chacke) acquired Fort Pittston School, I knew an architect that converts old schools,” Kuna said. “The building has good bones so I brought up a friend from the Pennsylvania Historical Museum Commission (PHMC) and they liked the building.”
Kuna said the PHMC has been actively seeking historic sites in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
“We can go after historical preservation tax credits and the next step is to get on the National Registry,” Kuna said. “There are certain things we will have to keep in the building redevelopment like the original chalkboards in some of the classrooms, and there’s a lot of stuff that’s really cool in there.”
Kuna said the city expects to get the school on the National Registry this year.
Moskovitz said, if key elements in redeveloping the school don’t pan out, the building would have to be raised for approximately $50,000. “A historic part of the city would be gone, and we don’t want to do that,” he said.
“If we don’t do fix up the neighborhoods, the work that we’ve done downtown will not be of great value,” Moskovitz added. “You’re not going to improve the neighborhoods if you have these abandoned, blighted properties throughout the town.”
The North East Land Bank Authority is currently 6 years old and is a consortium between Pittston City, West Pittston , Jenkins Township, Duryea, Hughestown and Avoca.
“We just razed two properties, one on Pine Street in Pittston and the other on Liberty Street in West Pittston,” Chacke said. “Both have been longstanding problems for both communities.”
Recently, the Land Bank acquired properties for the first time, using a “trump bid.” A trump bid is where the Land Bank can trump anybody else to acquire a property going through judicial sales.
Essentially, Pittston City would bid on a property against speculators just looking for an investment property.
“We would bid on a property and investors would come in and outbid us,” Chacke said. “Now, we can use a trump bid to gain property. We acquired 11 properties through the five municipalities that used the trump bid and we’re probably up to 25 to 30 properties the Land Bank owns, and we’ve sold off three so far.”
Each municipality participating in the Land Bank is required to maintain the properties and keep them safe.
The North East Land Bank Authority is an arm of the Redevelopment Authority.
The purpose of the Land Bank is to acquire abandoned or blighted property and demolish buildings or clear lots for sale to put the property back on the tax books.
Acquired properties for sale can be viewed at the North East Land Bank Authority website at www.nepalandbank.com.
“The Land Bank has done a lot so far, and it’s come a long way,” Klush said. “Everybody is happy, and we do have a lot of property in Pittston, and we have to get a lot of developers that are going start buying these properties.”
The city has been running neighborhood sweeps to ensure residents are maintaining their properties.
“We’re seeing progress and if you drive up Broad Street, you can see there were three houses with long-term problems that are being worked on, so we’re seeing results,” Lombardo said.
Lombardo’s team is excited about the Neighborhood Housing Initiative for 2020.
“If we can get this program funded this summer, we’ll be offering grants to homeowners to do repairs to their homes,” Chacke said. “We will have income guidelines that, if you make $50,000 to $100,000, we will give you 50% of that for rehab.”
“When we talk about the Redevelopment Authority program making more money, it’s not making more money for us to have more money; it’s making more money for us to invest more into our neighborhoods,” Lombardo said.
Kroptavich will finish her training soon and will have a certificate, elevating her from Main Street coordinator to Main Street manager.
“We’re starting a couple of new committees for downtown and reorganizing some of the existing committees,” Kroptavich said.
One new program is called Pedals to Progress to plant flowers along Main Street downtown, headed by Peter Uritz, to spruce up in the areas of City Hall, the Art Loop Trail and other places in the city.
According the Kroptavich, the Art Walk committee will expand and reorganize, bringing in new people with new ideas all through Pittston Partnership.
Kroptavich will oversee the special activities throughout the city, such as parades, Halloween, Christmas, as well as expanding on the art gallery, including an auction.
“We got involved in a toy collection with one of our merchants on Main Street where toys went to the Gabriel House, Geisinger in Danville, and we personally delivered toys for some families that have fallen on hardship and we even donated toys to the Greater Pittston Santa Squad,” Kroptavich said.
Kroptavich will oversee a movies and music committee that will provide movies and music at the Slope Amphitheatre located behind the Pittston Memorial Library.
In addition to overseeing activities on Main Street, she’s active in seeking new retail or service providers like restaurants.
Work has continued at the Cooper’s Seafood project as developer Pat Hadley of Hadley Construction is turning the facility into a banquet hall with the cabana included in the project.
Hadley Construction also acquired the former Mark Data building next to Cooper’s where work has been underway for some time now. The project has been funded through the Redevelopment Authority.
“The Salt Barre is in there and a juice bar will be opening up and PA Inclusive will also be housed in the building,” Kroptavich said.
In addition to businesses, the top two floors of the former Mark Data building will feature approximately 21 apartments.
The 35-unit Steeple View apartment complex on Church Street is nearly complete for the 55-and-over population with some income qualifications.
“The people from Monarch (Steeple View owner) will be here at City Hall, taking applications for residency at Steeple View,” Chacke said.
“The good thing about Steeple View is that it’s yet another opportunity where we have some people that are bound to stay in this community and this gives people a chance that can no longer afford their homes or with upkeep to stay in their neighborhood,” Lombardo said.
Internally, the city is looking to streamline technology at City Hall with software upgrades in the treasurer’s office.
The addition of Luzerne County Community College downtown has proven to be a success where, according to Kroptavich, the college satellite in Pittston will be over capacity next semester at 110%.
“There’s a lot of interesting things coming, and it’s going to be an interesting year,” Lombardo said. “A lot of cool things are about to happen.”
