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County launches new housing program
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BY JAMES LOEWENSTEIN
STAFF WRITER
TOWANDA — The Bradford County commissioners are launching a program to provide housing for homeless people who are mentally ill, and have also adopted bylaws related to the disbursement of room tax money in the county.
In addition, the commissioners on Thursday opened a bid for a project to paint and repair a section of the underside of the dome of the Bradford County Courthouse. The main work on the restoration of the dome — which involved cleaning a large painting of a sky scene located on the dome’s underside — is now complete, county officials said.
Homeless
On Thursday, the commissioners voted 3-0 to accept a $292,417 federal grant to start the program for homeless people who are mentally ill. Homeless people with other types of disabilities would also be eligible to participate in the program, said Ronald Schell, director of the county’s Mental Health Department.
“If somebody needs help getting back on their feet, the grant will pay for (their) rent for a certain amount of time,” said Mark Smith, Bradford County commissioner.
“Our hope is to be able to take some (of the homeless problem) away, to take care at least of the mentally-ill portion of the homeless population,” Cathye Horton of the Bradford County Mental Health Department has said, explaining the need for the program.
The program will be run by the county Mental Health Department, and the county will hire an outreach worker to assist people in the program and identify homeless people who could be helped by the program, county mental health officials said.
Schell said he hoped to have the program up and running as soon as the outreach worker is hired and some details for the program are worked out.
“If the (person) requires mental health services, we will bring our other support services to assist him or her,” Schell said. “If they need help with employment, we’ll make the appropriate referrals for that.”
The program can serve up to 10 homeless people per year, Schell said. They would be housed in apartments that landlords would normally advertise for anyone to rent, Horton has said.
“We’ll have to help them obtain leases on the apartments,” Schell said. The goal of the program is to get the homeless back on their feet and in a position where they can handle the cost of the rent, Schell said.
The federal grant, which is provided through the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, will fund the program for three years, Schell said. The program may continue after that, if funding is available, he said.
Bradford County Commissioner Doug McLinko, who had voted last year against applying for the federal funding, voted on Thursday to accept the grant to pay for the program. However, he said he was voting “with great apprehension” at this time to go forward with the program, and would be watching to see how the program works out.
McLinko said that homeless people who are truly down on their luck do need to be helped, as do the mentally ill, because they cannot take care of themselves.
However, he said he was concerned that the program will become a “crutch” for certain people who, by their own behavior and choices, have become homeless through burning bridges in their families and community.
“I don’t want to start giving people a crutch — people who have burned all the bridges in their homes and stuff,” said McLinko.
Currently, homeless people in Bradford County might stay on a couch at a relative’s home, in a car, or in other substandard housing, Horton has said.
The new program for the homeless will also benefit the homeless in Sullivan County, Horton has said.
Room Tax
The commissioners also approved a set of by-laws for the Bradford County Tourism Committee, which votes on how to allocate room tax money in Bradford County.
Under the newly adopted bylaws, the Bradford County Commissioners will appoint the members of the committee, said Smith. “That was never officially done in the past,” he added.
Until now, the committee has not had any bylaws, he said.
Until now, there have been no regulations in place on who would serve on the Tourism Committee, how long they would serve, and what their responsibilities were, said Smith. Smith said he has been working on developing the bylaws since he took office in January.
The county is looking for people to serve on the Tourism Committee and those interested should contact the commissioners’ office, said Smith.
Dome
The commissioners on Thursday opened the sole bid that was submitted for a project to paint and repair a section of the dome’s underside that is located beneath the painting of the sky scene.
The sole bid was submitted by Evergreene Painting Studios of New York City, which is offering to do the painting and repair work for $29,075 and provide the scaffolding for $80,500. The commissioners voted to table action on the bid until it could be reviewed.
In June, Evergreene had submitted the exact same bid to do the same project, but the commissioners rejected the bid at that time because they felt it was too high.
After the bid was rejected, Evergreene said it would try to provide the scaffolding at a cheaper rate, but was evidently unable to do so, Smith said.
James Loewenstein can be reached at (570) 265-1633; or e-mail: jloewenstein@thedailyreview.com.
In addition, the commissioners on Thursday opened a bid for a project to paint and repair a section of the underside of the dome of the Bradford County Courthouse. The main work on the restoration of the dome — which involved cleaning a large painting of a sky scene located on the dome’s underside — is now complete, county officials said.
Homeless
On Thursday, the commissioners voted 3-0 to accept a $292,417 federal grant to start the program for homeless people who are mentally ill. Homeless people with other types of disabilities would also be eligible to participate in the program, said Ronald Schell, director of the county’s Mental Health Department.
“If somebody needs help getting back on their feet, the grant will pay for (their) rent for a certain amount of time,” said Mark Smith, Bradford County commissioner.
“Our hope is to be able to take some (of the homeless problem) away, to take care at least of the mentally-ill portion of the homeless population,” Cathye Horton of the Bradford County Mental Health Department has said, explaining the need for the program.
The program will be run by the county Mental Health Department, and the county will hire an outreach worker to assist people in the program and identify homeless people who could be helped by the program, county mental health officials said.
Schell said he hoped to have the program up and running as soon as the outreach worker is hired and some details for the program are worked out.
“If the (person) requires mental health services, we will bring our other support services to assist him or her,” Schell said. “If they need help with employment, we’ll make the appropriate referrals for that.”
The program can serve up to 10 homeless people per year, Schell said. They would be housed in apartments that landlords would normally advertise for anyone to rent, Horton has said.
“We’ll have to help them obtain leases on the apartments,” Schell said. The goal of the program is to get the homeless back on their feet and in a position where they can handle the cost of the rent, Schell said.
The federal grant, which is provided through the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, will fund the program for three years, Schell said. The program may continue after that, if funding is available, he said.
Bradford County Commissioner Doug McLinko, who had voted last year against applying for the federal funding, voted on Thursday to accept the grant to pay for the program. However, he said he was voting “with great apprehension” at this time to go forward with the program, and would be watching to see how the program works out.
McLinko said that homeless people who are truly down on their luck do need to be helped, as do the mentally ill, because they cannot take care of themselves.
However, he said he was concerned that the program will become a “crutch” for certain people who, by their own behavior and choices, have become homeless through burning bridges in their families and community.
“I don’t want to start giving people a crutch — people who have burned all the bridges in their homes and stuff,” said McLinko.
Currently, homeless people in Bradford County might stay on a couch at a relative’s home, in a car, or in other substandard housing, Horton has said.
The new program for the homeless will also benefit the homeless in Sullivan County, Horton has said.
Room Tax
The commissioners also approved a set of by-laws for the Bradford County Tourism Committee, which votes on how to allocate room tax money in Bradford County.
Under the newly adopted bylaws, the Bradford County Commissioners will appoint the members of the committee, said Smith. “That was never officially done in the past,” he added.
Until now, the committee has not had any bylaws, he said.
Until now, there have been no regulations in place on who would serve on the Tourism Committee, how long they would serve, and what their responsibilities were, said Smith. Smith said he has been working on developing the bylaws since he took office in January.
The county is looking for people to serve on the Tourism Committee and those interested should contact the commissioners’ office, said Smith.
Dome
The commissioners on Thursday opened the sole bid that was submitted for a project to paint and repair a section of the dome’s underside that is located beneath the painting of the sky scene.
The sole bid was submitted by Evergreene Painting Studios of New York City, which is offering to do the painting and repair work for $29,075 and provide the scaffolding for $80,500. The commissioners voted to table action on the bid until it could be reviewed.
In June, Evergreene had submitted the exact same bid to do the same project, but the commissioners rejected the bid at that time because they felt it was too high.
After the bid was rejected, Evergreene said it would try to provide the scaffolding at a cheaper rate, but was evidently unable to do so, Smith said.
James Loewenstein can be reached at (570) 265-1633; or e-mail: jloewenstein@thedailyreview.com.
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