Johnstown City Council met for a regularly scheduled meeting this evening,
City council members discussed arpa funding plans for a new shelter as well as improvements to Roxbury Park and Planning Commission vacancies.
Johnstown City Council met on Wednesday evening for a regularly scheduled council meeting. They voted on resolutions to apply for a grant from the PA Department of Community and Economic Development’s Municipal Assistance Program
(MAP) for $150,000 to develop a new City comprehensive plan. The current plan dates back to 1998.
They also voted on a resolution for grant funding of improvements to Roxbury Park, those include the repaving of the tennis and basketball courts.
The city is planning on using American Rescue Plan funding that was received through HUD’s HOME program to build a new non-congregate shelter. The city received a development proposal from Victim’s Services who want to build the
shelter on 307 Vine St. The council voted to table the resolution.
“I had no prior knowledge other than what was on the agenda and we didn’t want to walk it through without having more information. They did have a public hearing is my understanding, but I wasn’t aware of it so in order to be
fair about everything we wanted to have a better background of that knowledge.”
Arnone is also a chairman on the Johnstown’s Housing Authority and presented an update about the Prospect homes.
“We’re still waiting for a final read from HUD on what needs to be done. It looks like it’s going to be repaired but we don’t know what it is and what the final cost is. So, once we find that out we will notify those residents what
our decision is going to be and how long that’s going to take.”
Council voted to appoint a new member to their city Planning Commission after three people resigned. They are still looking for two new members.
“Right now we’re looking for people to volunteer, that’s the biggest problem just like any other organization has. We need people to step up and take a part in the city of Johnstown.”
The next Johnstown City Council meeting will take place on September 13th.