Fire damaged sites in Hazleton Heights neighborhood could be razed soon

Standard-Speaker (Hazleton, PA)

Nov. 12--Two buildings that burned in the Hazleton Heights neighborhood in July 2018 could soon be demolished, city officials said.

Federal Community Development funds will pay for some of the work.

The city will use part of its annual Community Development Block Grant allocation to cover costs of demolishing the uninsured portion of a double home at 321-323 Carleton Ave., Mayor Jeff Cusat said.

Private insurance will pay for razing the other half of the double home, as well as an apartment building that burned at 325-327 Carleton Ave., the mayor said.

Cusat admits the properties have been "an eyesore" since they burned in early July 2018, but said the city had no immediate recourse available because only half the home was insured and the city had to go through the time-consuming process of having an environmental review completed before it could use federal Community Development funds to address that half.

Had the city demolished the uninsured portion sooner, it would've had to spend significantly more money building temporary walls until the insured portion was torn down, he said.

The process was further complicated as the neighboring apartment building was insured by a different carrier, he said.

"The process took long," Cusat said. "They had different insurance companies, one home did not have insurance (and) with Community Development, any time you disturb ground you have to do an environmental review."

The cause of the fire remains undetermined.

Officials ultimately got the property owners and insurance carriers to agree to have the city bid out demolition work -- and go along with the low-bidding company, Cusat said.

"That's what the big hold-up was," he said. "We're just glad it's going to come down."

City council will vote Wednesday on a resolution to allocate federal Community Development funds for demolishing "the remaining structure" at 321-323 Carleton Ave. Officials will open demolition bids in public before the vote, according to the agenda.

Joseph Zeller III, director of recreation and economic development, said officials hope the project is completed "before the winter weather becomes unfavorable."

In other business, City Administrator Dan Lynch will present the 2020 budget to council. The document will not be up for a vote Wednesday.

Council meets 6 p.m. Wednesday at city hall.

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