No one would argue that the City of Warren has blighted property problems.

City officials are proposing a targeted solution.

City Manager Nancy Freenock said she would be asking city council to apply for a few grant opportunities through the state Department of Community and Economic Development’s Keystone Communities Program.

That’s where the blight piece comes in.

Freenock said she’s recommending going after a planning grant to develop a “remediation plan for blight in the city.”

She said that the city’s current blighted process and staff “are reactive rather than being proactive” The plan, she said, would look at the entire city and identify “what areas need work” and “what resources we can go after… to get the funding help that we need.”

Freenock asked the RDA to consider covering the cost of the match, which could reach $25,000.

RDA Chair Michael Boyd asked if this has been done before.

“No,” Freenock said, explaining that other cities have and that the city has their plans and will be meeting with those municipalities.

“The city has pockets of blight,” she said. “(We) don’t have whole blocks…. This is one way to try to address blight.”

She said she’s hoping the report will recommend two proposals previously pitched to council “without much success,” including a vacancy registration ordinance and rental property inspection ordinance.

“I think that they are two tools that can help blight,” she said.

RDA member Gary Sawtelle said it is “not a bad idea” but that the Authority should wait for more detailed information.

“Whatever it is you want to do has to be mentioned in a plan,” Freenock said, calling that barrier the most challenging to overcome to secure funding.

DEVELOPMENT GRANT

PROPOSED

Freenock said she would be asking the city to apply for – and the RDA to manage – a state development grant.

“We have to have a project in mind when we apply,” she explained, proposing additional funding for the Dewboi Properties proposal for a hotel and apartments on Liberty St. “Their project is over $4 million.”

She suggested the RDA could loan those funds to that firm.

But there’s a twist.

“As that money is repair, it is repaid back to the RDA,” she said. “It funds a revolving loan account for the city. Getting the $500,000 back is really, I think, important.”

That would provide a funding stream for the RDA to utilize for other projects.

Freenock said the grant applications will likely be presented to council during a scheduled special meeting set for Monday.