Sewickley Herald

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Suburban Pittsburgh's Largest Audited
Paid Newspapers
enty Cents
(USPS-610-540)
Wednesday, October 31,1979
In Two Sections
Vol.79No.44
\\fCOG juvenile officer
^plications being taken
e Quaker Valley icil of Governments ed to begin advertising be juvenile officer at meeting Thursday, ber 25 in the Sewiekley ugh Building. t . e JJVCOG was suc-ul in a request to the for a $27,000 grant to the officer, and will ive the money mber 1,1979. tending the meeting ! Steve Jennings, a. esentative from the heny County Depar-' it of Planning and lopment, Marie Guy, ct coordinator for the die officer, Mary Lou ran and Tom voise from Osborne, arver from Glenfield, ph Scalercio esenting Aleppo, and Gardner from worth ,o and John
udents
ust about
dern day knights, s, and jesters will take the classroom and an ent park at Edgeworth entary School on esday, Oct, 31.
Quaker Valley its will joust, bowl, . participate in other ival games. The fifth irs from .three ooms will don Middle > ;arb and will lunch on ppropriatetotheday. .
owartz from Beu Acres.
Marie Guy stated Harrisburg requires that the juvenile officer be hired by one of the eleven townships or boroughs instead of being hired by the COG itself, contrary to COG’s desire. After a lengthy discussion, the representatives agreed to have Sewiekley Borough hire the officer on paper, and do the bookwork for the . account. However, Guy reminded the council that the officer would come under the jurisdiction of the executive committee soon to be formed from COG’s Juvenile Officer Supervisory Committee.
“There will be no financial burden on the . borough that hires the officer because the grant takes care of any insurance liabilities, salary, etc.,’’ said Guy. “He will answer only to the COG and no one else, and another thing, he won’t be involved with the . organizations in the . borough and townships, he will deal only with juveniles .in those boroughs. The bulk of his work will be follow-up, and we want .to get him involved in the school systems also,” she added.
Steve Jennings said, “It’s important to get an innovative person, because you are not getting much cooperation from the schools.’’ The council agreed to invite two youths
from each school to join the council as guest advisors. “I would like to get two kids from the junior high, two from the senior high, and two from the Academy. We could really use their ideas and input on this subject,” explained Guy,-The. council agreed to a time schedule for ad-r vertising, interviewing and hiring the juvenile officer. “We should advertise for two weeks in at least three papers, to get as many people we can for a good selection. From the applications we can choose-at least five to 15 people, narrow that down to three, and then test those three. It’ll take about three weeks to do the interviewing because I think the entire supervisory committee should be present. The fourths week we’ll do the testing, and we should be able to hire someone by the fifth week, ” said Guy.
Mrs. Guy said she had located an office above Shoenanigans in Sewiekley for the juvenile officer. “I think this is a good central location so he can get out to the other boroughs and . townships with no problem.” added Guy.
In* other business, Mrs. Guy reminded the council that anyone interested could join her for a tour of Schuman Center, located on Highland Drive, Pittsburgh on Friday, November 2.
GET READY for the Annual Trick or Treat tonight. Children in all boroughs will be arriving' between 6 to 8 p.m. in all 11 municipalities within the Quaker Valley School District. front porch light means safety for the home owners as well as the masqueraders. Motorists are cautioned to drive carefully. At 12:40 p.m. today, students at the Osborne and Edgeworth Elementary Schools will be parading. The public may watch the Spectacle. The display above was photographed at a home on Bank St., Sewiekley last Halloween.
(Photo by Margaret Marshall)
meet the public
iroximately 30 in-ed homeowners at-d a Neighborhood ervation Program tig held Wednesday, 24 in the Sewiekley gh Building to learn requirements are sary to take ad-?e of low interest loan. ! • available through jgram.
! Neighborhood ovation Program i as NPP is sponsored egheny County and is ble to residents of the ns of the First Ward, led by Blackburn e, Centennial Avenue chard Street, i Waiter, a litation supervisor ie Allegheny County i Department, said citizen participation to the informal sioa had been weak, ot little response after g out flyers in the Ward, so we decided to this open forum to in the goals and ements for the loan, wt to dispel any evil
or bad thoughts about the program,” explained Waiter. “If it (the program) doesn’t go over large with in a certain amount of time, we’ll have to either pull out Or, else, open up the program to the entire Sewiekley area .”
To be eligible for the program, a participant must be a homeowner living in the First Ward, with an annual income not exceeding $15,000. A basic list of requireed improvements must be completed before the homeowner continues with less necessary projects.
Some of the basics include correcting faulty wiring or plumbing, replacing deteriorating gutters and downspouts, putting in new windows, -and making roof repairs.
Waiter1 explained that participants must begin a request for the loan money by filling out an application and several forms for the financial advisor. A copy of last year’s income tax form is also needed to show that
the participant’s salary is under the limit.
“It takes around two days to verify all the information, and then we can begin to discover what necessary repairs need to be done first. Nothing is forced upoh you. We’re only here to consult .and help find' a general contractor that won’t rip you off,” added Waiter.
"You have three options open to you if you opt to take the loan,’’ said Waiter. “You could do the work yourself, in which case the loan wotdd not only buy the materials you’d need, but also any tools and equipment yon would use. Secondly, you act as your own general contractor, and, lastly, you could let the NPP send out bids. We don’t just take the lowest bid, because sometimes they come too low as well as too high. We would choose a contractor whose bid came within 10 per cent of our estimate.”
When asked by a member of the audience hoW long it
would take to get the repairs started after filling out the application, Waiter replied, “The biggest hang-up is getting a price on'the job. We require a minimum of ' three contractors, but before we read their bids, we have to have an estimate ourselves as to what work is needed. Any other time delays are usually with the homeowners themselves.”
The NPP provides the low interest loan money to complete up to $10,000 worth of home repairs and remodeling work. Frank Demes of Action Housing, a nonprofit division of the United Way, explained the financial aspects of the NPP loans. For example, if the NPP was not operating in this area, homeowners would have to borrow $5,000 from a lending institution. At the going rate of interest, this loan Would be paid back over a 12-year period at $66.32 per month. The total cost for the homeowner, including the interest, Would be $9,550.
But, if the homeowner
were to borrow the same $5,000 worth of work through the NPP he Would borrow only $3,128 from a lending institution and the Program would pay the balance of $1,871. The borrowed money would be paid back over a 12 year period at $41.49 per month. This would be a savings of. $24.83 per month, over borrowing all of the $5,000 or almost $300 per year. According to Demes, the total savings over the 12* years wouldbe $3,575.
Ed McClaskey, chief of the Housing Division for the Allegheny County Health Department, was also on hand to explain the program. “As homeowners, you will receive professional guidance in improving your homes. If you have a dangerous situation such as an improperly vented furnace, you should really at least apply for the loan. If there’s something you don’t film about the loan or the program, you can just tell us no and you’re under no
obligation.”
McQoskey said that a community Development Block Grant had been created four years ago for bousing improvements and recreational areas in local counties or municilpalities, “If we can get at least 15 to 20 cases initially, the program would go forth on its own weight. You know,” said McCloskey, “the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Homeowners that speak up and take advantage of the program are sure to be ahead in the long run.”
A local resident, Frank Smith, started working Monday, Oct. 29 as a financial consultant for homeowners in the First Ward. “With the loan from NPP, I was able to remodel my entire kitchen, put in air-conditioning ahd take care of some plumbing safety factors.” Smith told the audience, “Feel free to come see my house and to ask me any more questions
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