Johnstown, Pa — Even though Johnstown is no longer considered financially distressed, concerns remain about the city's public housing.
H.U.D officials and Johnstown leaders that spoke with 6 News remain optimistic this issue will improve through the full redevelopment of the city.
“There’s so many issues with Johnstown, not just affordable housing,” said Frank Janakovic, the Mayor of Johnstown.
And Janakovic is right. The city also faces public safety issues, depopulation and more.
At an all-day forum H.U.D officials and Johnstown leaders addressed not only these issues, but the housing issues within the city as well.
“We came to town to really learn about some of the challenges and the opportunities that are facing Johnstown from a housing and community development perspective,” said Matthew Heckles, the Regional Administrator for the United States Housing and Urban Development.
Heckles spoke with Channel 6 about the relocation of the Prospect Community – a housing issue he and other H.U.D officials have been following. He says they took a visit there Thursday.
“They wanted to come here, wanted to see Johnstown, they wanted to be with us they wanted to make sure they met with residents. They wanted to hear from the community that lives here, works here. They wanted to hear about challenges from the city, from the social service agencies from law enforcement and how all that fits together and what kind of solutions we can pursue," said Michael Alberts, the Executive Director of the Johnstown Housing Authority. "
Heckles added, “And I think the public housing authority’s done a really good job to make sure they put their resident's safety first and its part of the bigger picture of the redevelopment and reinvestment of the town.”
Alberts tells 6 News as of Tuesday - there are no updates on the future of Prospect community as he has not received results from the geotechnical survey yet. He also says there is no time frame for when Oakhurst Homes will be inspected.
“I know it’s going to be hard, I know it’s going to take some time," said Heckles. "That’s why we came here today was to really make sure that we understood firsthand and could see with our own eyes, you know what it is that the city really needs and then also to figure out how we at the federal level can help.”
Alberts says H.U.D is providing a Technical Assistance Grant - which will assist with the redevelopment of the housing issues in Johnstown.
“I think the meeting with H.U.D coming into Johnstown showed that they’re more than willing to work with us and adjust the problems and help us in whatever capacity it can," said Janakovic. "Whether that be grants directly, indirectly the message we got was H.U.D's out there to help us.”
The mayor also says the city is looking at a new path right now and there are a lot of things to look forward to.
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