Jim Thorpe Borough is seeking to change the use of its Community Block Development Grant allocation totaling just over $164,000 for fiscal year 2022 and 2023, according to a public hearing held Wednesday morning.

The borough was awarded $82,136 in 2022 and $82,160 in 2023, money that was most recently allocated for a housing rehabilitation program. It now seeks to reallocate these funds to upgrade water treatment plant equipment, which Borough Manager Maureen Sterner said was the plan all along.

“The money was not originally slated for home rehabilitation,” Sterner said. “It was originally slated for water department work. We were not ready with that work because we were waiting for a vendor to become a COSTARS vendor. We needed an extension on the CDBG funds, so (the county planning office) requested that we change it to home rehabilitation, which they normally do not do with the CDBG program. Now we are ready for the water department work and that is why this change is happening now.”

The borough plans to use the funds for the first phase of water treatment plant upgrades, including the purchase and installation of turbine meters, analytical equipment, and other essential devices.

“It was urgent for Jim Thorpe to move this money now because if they didn’t do it by the end of the month, the water department work may not qualify for CDBG,” Dave Bodnar, of the Carbon County Office of Planning and Development, said.

Bodnar said most municipalities use CDBG funds to do street and road improvements or water and sewer projects.

“We usually never see CDBG funds used for home rehabilitation,” Bodnar said. “I have been the director here for the past 10 years and I don’t think money has ever been used for housing rehabilitation. CDBG money can be used for home rehabilitation, we’ve just never seen it done.”

Residents speak out

Jim Thorpe residents, including Trish Spillman, attended Wednesday morning’s hearing to express concern over the money being shifted away from home rehabilitation when the borough has been seeking funds to demolish a blighted property at 204 Center Ave. and repair the home next door.

“The fear is that there won’t be other money when it comes time to tear down 204 Center Ave. and remediate 206 Center Ave. and the borough will say now we have to use taxpayer money to do that and we’re not going to do it,” Spillman said. “This money was earmarked for something very specific. And now they’re asking us to allow them to move it in good faith that they are not going to let the residents of 206 Center Ave. hanging in the wind.”

A real problem

Since 2013, 204 Center Ave. has been the subject of violations of the Jim Thorpe International Property Maintenance Code.

A notice of violations had been given to the prior owner of the property, Irene A. Dever and, in 2017, the borough filed a civil complaint against Dever, according to Borough Solicitor James Nanovic.

The relief requested in the complaint was to remove the “great deal of debris, junk and personal property in the property.”

Dever did not take any action to address the violations of the property maintenance code.

The property, Nanovic said, was later sold for taxes and purchased by Ronald Spiegel LLC, which subsequently conveyed the property by a deed dated March 2, 2020, to the current LLC.

A memorandum from Barry Isett & Associates, Inc. to the borough in 2018 outlined structural assessment concerns for the vacant Jim Thorpe home.

The report noted “a severe deterioration of the roof, siding, interior finishes, and structural elements due to long-term exposure to weather and lack of maintenance.”

Specific issues include a “roof and roof deck collapsed and severely deteriorated, front porch roof and siding deteriorated with visible water stains, windows broken or displaced and framing rotted, organic growth and moisture damage throughout the interior, and structural elements like wood joists and foundations severely deteriorated.”

A reassessment in February 2024 showed “continued deterioration and collapse of the roof and floors, with significant exposure to the elements. The condition of the property has worsened, confirming the need for prompt demolition to prevent further collapse.”

The home was slated to be torn down using part of a combined state grant the municipality partnered with Palmerton and Lehighton boroughs to receive in 2021.

Jim Thorpe, however, said it did not have enough grant money left to cover post-demolition remediation to the home next door where

“We have over $100,000 from the blight grant, so that should cover the total cost of the 204 demolition,” Sterner said. “The county has a separate home rehabilitation program that could potentially be used for 206. We are in the process of reviewing the agreement and the program with the county at this time for those funds.”

Changes in the county’s agreement for the home rehabilitation program have introduced uncertainties for the borough, she added.

“Originally, the way that the county was setting this up was that the homeowner would apply directly to the county,” Sterner said. “The grant would provide $50,000 and anything over that would have to be covered by the homeowner. The (county) changed it now to make it just between the county and the borough. So that is a big part of our unknown. We don’t know what requirements there are that we’re going to have to meet.”

Sterner said the borough’s biggest challenge right now is finding sources of funding for the engineering costs related to the post-demolition repairs to 206 Center Ave.

“We are not allowed to use the blight grant funding we received for that,” she said. “I have been trying to find funds for the engineering. I have inquired with the county on the $15 deed fee they instituted.”

The borough is estimating an engineering cost between $17,000 and $30,000 for the 206 side.

“They have to review the property and determine what needs to be corrected,” Sterner said. “They would have to write bid specifications. They have to go through the bidding process and do the administration. Engineering is not cheap.”