Neighborhoods

Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. finalized the sale of four rehabilitated houses during the first three months of 2015, YNDC reported today.

In its January-March 2015 performance report issued this morning, YNDC said it finalized the sale of two houses in the city’s Idora neighborhood on the South Side, a third South Side home in the Indian Village neighborhood and the fourth in the Crandall Park neighborhood on the North Side.

YNDC completed rehabilitation on five houses total and another six are in progress. The agency has begun predevelopment work on the Clearmont, a four-unit apartment building constructed in 1928 at Glenwood and Clearmont avenues. Three more strategic acquisition and rehabilitation properties also have been acquired.

This year YNDC has identified 26 projects for its Paint Youngstown limited repair program for the 2014-2015 grant year. To date, 34 of the projects have been completed and two are in progress. A minimum of five are to be completed in each of the city’s seven wards. In addition, one owner-occupied full rehab project will be completed in each ward, with six already under way.

YNDC conducted three volunteer neighborhood work days during the first three months of 2015 in the area adjacent to Taft Elementary School on the Martin Luther King Day of Service, in the Idora neighborhood and on Bennington Avenue. This spring, the agency plans to conduct 12 community workday events in conjunction with more than a dozen neighborhood groups.

Also during the quarter, YNDC launched a series of seven small-business development classes last month, YNDC reported.

The first class, which was held March 17, was attended by 36 aspiring business owners. The class heard from representatives of the Ohio State University Extension, the Ohio Small Business Development Center at Youngstown State University and the Mahoning Valley Economic Development Corp.

Highlights of the quarter also included the award of $38,000 from new funders, including a $12,500 Dominion Community Impact Award for YNDC’s Revitalize program. JP Morgan Chase, Huntington National Bank and Wells Fargo also donated a total of six properties to YNDC’s strategic acquisition and rehabilitation program.

To read the full story from the Business Journal, click here. 

Kent State East Liverpool is preparing for its 13th annual Earth Day Environmental Justice Conference to be held April 25, beginning at 8 a.m. in the Slak Shak in Purinton Hall.

This year’s event features four speakers and honors the late Dr. Roxanne Burns, a biology professor on the East Liverpool campus who helped organize the first Earth Day event here in 2002.

This year’s speakers include Ian Beniston, Jack Daugherty and James “Big Jim” London, all from Youngstown, who will present together in the morning; and Brad Melzer of Oberlin, Ohio, speaking in the afternoon.

Beniston is the executive director of the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. (YNDC) and provides urban planning and neighborhood development in the private, non-profit and public sectors. He earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Youngstown State University and a master’s of city and regional planning from the Ohio State University. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners and studied the European approach to reinventing older cities at the Technical University of Dresden in Dresden, Germany.

Beniston and his partners at the YNDC were recognized for their efforts to restore Youngstown neighborhoods through strategies to curb population decline, improve neighborhood safety and increase community pride.

Daugherty is the neighborhood stabilization director for the YNDC, leading a team of professionals in implementing and planning neighborhood stabilization programming. He also leads the pursuit of grant funding and develops new strategic initiatives.

Daugherty was born and raised in Youngstown and, most recently, worked in Buffalo, N.Y., on a HUD Choice Neighborhood Transformation Plan. He earned a bachelor’s of arts degree in geography and sociology from SUNY Buffalo, as well as a master’s of urban planning.

London is the founder, president and driving force behind the Idora Neighborhood Association in Youngstown, a nonprofit organization formed in 2007. Intent on starting an association hailed by civic leaders as a model for other groups in Youngstown, London focused his energy on the INA and organizations under its umbrella, all staffed by volunteers.

Over the years, the association received generous grants to supports its efforts and its impact has been extraordinary. The group worked with various organizations on several rehabilitation and beautification projects and London is a “grassroots leadership model” who has helped others make positive changes in their neighborhoods and advocate positive change through determination. He is regarded as a positive influence and a major community hero.

Aside from his work with the association, he is the leader of the award-winning Idora Wildcats 4H Club, which has enriched the lives of dozens of at-risk neighborhood youth by building strong connections between youth and community. His efforts have inspired a citywide movement to take action against blight and crime at the grassroots level.

To read the full story from KSU, click here.

City council will vote Wednesday on a contract to pay the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. up to $60,000 this year to continue providing planning services.

The decision to vote next week came Wednesday during a council finance committee meeting in which some council members — particularly Councilwomen Annie Gillam, D-1st, and Janet Tarpley, D-6th — asked questions and criticized the development agency.

Gillam wanted to know why the city is retaining YNDC because doing so is “destroying” the city’s planning department.

T. Sharon Woodberry, the city’s director of community planning and economic development, explained that the city’s planning department has three people, and couldn’t handle this work as effectively as YNDC, which has more than 30 employees.

Gillam said that YNDC hasn’t involved homeowner groups in the city in the planning process.

“They feel totally neglected and slighted,” she said.

Gillam also said that work on the city’s East Side is a low priority.

“We have got to stop thinking a certain way and include everybody,” she said.

Tarpley added that because some council members have “relationships” with Ian Beniston, YNDC’s executive director “shouldn’t mean my ward [is] slighted.”

Beniston said each ward is treated equally.

The city paid about $150,000 to YNDC last year — with $25,000 going to the Youngstown State University Center for Urban and Regional Studies — for planning, which included a citywide development plan.

That contract expired Dec. 31. Beniston said he submitted a request in October and then in February for an extension while YNDC continued to do planning work for the city.

The decision last week by Tarpley and Gillam to pull the YNDC contract from council’s agenda led to criticism from Councilmen Mike Ray, D-4th, and Paul Drennen, D-5th, that the two councilwomen were holding up legislation.

Tarpley said she was “really offended” by the comments.

To read the full story at Vindy.com, click here.

City council will consider Wednesday authorizing the board of control to renew three expired professional-service contracts, all retroactive to Jan. 1.

“We recognize there is an issue with keeping track of some contracts,” said Anthony Donofrio, the city’s deputy law director. “We have a process in place that will allow us to do better keeping track of them.”

Contracts of at least a year are being identified by the law department, primarily after the deals are approved by the board of control, and put into a computer database, said Mark D’Apolito, an assistant law director and law department’s monitor coordinator.

The system will provide alerts when contracts are getting close to their expiration dates, some 30 days and others in 90 days, depending on what they are, he said.

“In 2016, we should see less contracts [being considered by council retroactively] as information is included into the system,” D’Apolito said.

On council’s agenda are three one-year contract renewals for deals that expired Dec. 31. The work didn’t stop despite the contract expirations.

They are:

As much as $62,000 to have the Warren-Youngstown Urban League continue to run the city’s Human Relations Commission.

Up to $64,997 to Guy Burney to continue to run the Community Initiative to Reduce Violence program.

An amount not to exceed $60,000 for the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. to continue providing planning services.

YNDC asked the city in October about a renewal and again in February, Ian Beniston, its executive director said last week.

The renewal was pulled from the April 1 agenda by Councilwomen Janet Tarpley, D-6th, and Annie Gillam, D-1st, because they had questions.

The two questioned and criticized the YNDC at a council finance committee meeting last Wednesday.

To read the full story at Vindy.com, click here.

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

On Tuesday, April 7th, mayors across the country participated in the third-annual Mayors Day of Recognition for National Service to spotlight the impact of national service and thank those who serve.

In Youngstown, Mayor John McNally recognized YNDC's AmeriCorps members for their service to the community. Seven of YNDC's REVITALIZE State and National team members and 3 AmeriCorps VISTAs were present to receive the Mayor's proclamation. 

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

On Tuesday, April 14th, YNDC Executive Director Ian Beniston and Thriving Communities Institute Director Jim Rokakis led a session titled Vacant to Vibrant: Putting Land Back to Use.

The session was covered varying aspects of vacant land acquisition, planning, and reuse. A full copy of the presentation can be downloaded below.

The city council unanimously approved three contracts Wednesday under which work was continuing even though they had expired at the end of December.

One of those contracts, an extension not to exceed $60,000 for the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp., had been taken off the April 1 agenda because council members Annie Gillam, D-1st, and Janet Tarpley, D-6th, had questions.

The two also questioned and criticized the YNDC at a council finance-committee meeting April 8.

At the finance-committee meeting before Wednesday’s meeting, Gillam said she received a clarification from T. Sharon Woodberry, the city’s director of community planning and economic development, that work done by YNDC so far this year will be paid for in the $60,000.

She also told The Vindicator she’s satisfied with additions to the contract since last week’s finance meeting.

“They didn’t have Oak Street as a main corridor and didn’t have McGuffey Road development as a main corridor, and that’s been put in,” she said.

She also said they are no longer treating the Oak Hill area as low priority.

“They will look at it like everything else — give it the attention it needs,” she said.

To read the full story at Vindy.com, click here. 

Foreclosure filings are down for the fifth straight year in Ohio.

According to reports, 80 of the state’s 88 counties saw a decline.

Locally, Trumbull County was down 18 percent, Columbiana 14 percent, and Mahoning County 11 percent.

Ian Beniston, with the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corporation, said many factors contribute to the trend. He said a better economy, a decline in sub-prime lending and programs that help first-time buyers are all factors.

“Homeownership, hopefully, continues to remain a viable option for people,” Beniston said. “It is critical to neighborhood stabilization.”

Last year, there were 43,000 foreclosures in Ohio. The all-time high was 89,000 in 2009, which was during the recent recession.

To see the full story from WKBN, click here.

Monday, April 20, 2015

On Saturday, April 18th, community volunteers cleaned up Glenwood Community Park and boarded up vacant homes in the adjacent Fosterville neighborhood in recognition of Global Youth Day of Service.

Volunteer groups participating in the event included Tabernacle Evangelical Presbyterian Church, students from Youngstown State University's YSUScape and Greeks in the Streets initiative, and Academic Year in America, as well as neighborhood residents. The event was sponsored in part by ServeOhio (The Ohio Commission on Service and Volunteerism), AmeriCorps State, and AmeriCorps VISTA. Food was provided for the event by Pizza Joe's on Canfield Road and by Tabernacle Evangelical Presbyterian Church. In total, volunteers boarded five vacant homes, removed over two dozen illegaly dumped tires, cleared over 1,800 pounds of brush and debris from these homes, and water sealed the fence surrounding Glenwood Community park. A total of 49 volunteers served a total of 221 man hours at the event.

Monday, April 20, 2015

On Thursday, April 23rd, the Mahoning Valley Food Coalition will host a public planning workshop on local food and its potential for strengthening our local economy, supporting healthier people and neighborhoods, and revitalizing our city.

The workshop will be held at 5:30pm in the Radius Room at Fellows Riverside Gardens (123 McKinley Ave. Youngstown, OH, 44509).

Youngstown is one of 26 communities nationwide participating in the new Local Foods, Local Places program, which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Delta Regional Authority (DRA), and the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC).This federal initiative provides technical and financial support to integrate local food systems into community economic action plans, help revitalize struggling downtowns, and preserve farms and undeveloped land. Federal partners will also be in town on Friday conducting planning activities and getting to know the city. The process will result in a report that can be used to integrate food into future planning efforts.

Please contact Liberty Merrill, YNDC Land Reuse Director, at 330.480.0423 for more information about this event.