Home Foreclosures & Nuisance Abatement Problems
Printed From: MiddletownUSA.com
Category: Middletown City Government
Forum Name: City Council
Forum Description: Discuss individual members and council as a legislative body.
URL: http://www.middletownusa.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=3050
Printed Date: Jun 20 2025 at 9:59am
Topic: Home Foreclosures & Nuisance Abatement Problems
Posted By: High Speed Rail??
Subject: Home Foreclosures & Nuisance Abatement Problems
Date Posted: Jun 16 2010 at 10:04am
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Several times last night Mr. Adkins told the City Commissioners that the growth of vacant houses (many of which are foreclosed) have exploded the cost of tall weeds/grass and trash removal by City vendors. I believe he said that as many as 2,000 properties are vacant and 845 are cared for by them?
Given the growing problem of foreclosed homes, I wonder when Mr. Adkins will give the Commissioners and citizenry factual information on how he's doing in spending $2,144,000 in HUD Neighborhood Stabilization Program - Round One money given to the City last year? Didn't he spend $300,000+ of this grant to purchase a church-owned property on Central Avenue and to demolish same plus the adjoining building that housed Barb's Pub? Was any of the NSP-1 grant used for the interesting land swap with Duncan Oil near the future home of the HIGH SPEED MIDDLETOWN BULLET TRAIN STATION?
Mr. Adkins, how many of the 54 houses have you demolished as promised with NSP-1 funds (do not include CDBG Program funded activities of this type)? How many of the 20 vacant, foreclosed homes have you purchased-rehabbed-resold as promised with NSP-1 funds (do not include HOME Program funded activities of this type)?
Please explain what is really going on? Are you complaining about needing more Nuisande Abatement money and yet failing to prudently use NSP-1 funds to reduce the negative impact of foreclosure that you state will continue for at least two more years? Which is it Mr. Adkins?
On another note, whatever happened to the University of Cincinnati study that would provide valuable information involving the Section 8 problem here?
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Replies:
Posted By: VietVet
Date Posted: Jun 16 2010 at 12:09pm
This whole "Section 8-landlord-attraction welfare and low income folks who, in the end, find they can't afford the house they bought/rented and abandon it and leave the city- attraction of people on the welfare roles from out of town" is a disaster. This "THEME" that the city leaders insist upon is causing this unnecessary nuisance. There wouldn't be this much discussion about this housing problem if we dropped this concentration on Section 8, cut back to the numbers that are "our fair share" of Section 8 people and created jobs that would allow these people to purchase these available vacant houses. Instead, we have city leaders that are insistent on preceeding with this program that is obviously destroying the city and scratching their heads wondering how they are going to take care of the blighted properties that they helped create and encourage. 
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Posted By: High Speed Rail??
Date Posted: Jun 16 2010 at 1:37pm
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VietVet, Mr. Presta, Randy, Etc. -
How interesting that City Commissioners were told last night that reductions in Section 8 rental units probably would cause increased nuisance abatement issues for City Hall experts?
It makes one wonder if the bureaucrats have decided to live with the 1662 subsidized rental units compliments of HUD?
Isn't this like saying, "Our espert One Donham Plaza visionaries caused the problem in the first place?
The Community Revitalization gurus now claim that an even worse problem would occur if they corrected their original faulty PLANNING?
"What a City?"
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Posted By: High Speed Rail??
Date Posted: Jun 16 2010 at 1:44pm
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Vivian Moon, a retired senior citizen, continues to mow the knee-high grass/weeds at the long vacant home adjoining hers on Waite Street.
Too bad Mr. Adkins needed his own PERSONAL SECRETARY instead of using General Fund resources to keep our neighborhoods clean? Sadly, nothing was said about this issue by City Commissioners.
By the way, Vivian is quite ill and may be admitted to the hospital. Get well soon!
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Posted By: High Speed Rail??
Date Posted: Jun 17 2010 at 7:48am
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How interesting that the recent epiphany from Judy G. finally promotes the HUD-funded first-time home buyer Downpayment/Closing Cost Assistance Program? Previously, for whatever reasons, she's said little to nothing about this endeavor to bring more home owners to Middletown during this period of high foreclosures, deferred property maintenance and declining percentages of home ownership.
SInce arriving here in early 2008, her focus is clearly on demolition instead of neighborhood economic/property improvement. Just look at the shell game involving the the decline of funding for People Working Cooperatively to undertake emergency and moderate home repairs for Middletown's very low-income elderly and handicapped homeowners. Giving $25,000 to Berachah Baptist Church for materials was a good thing when they recently spruced up houses of deserving home owners. However, while PWC once received $300,000 in local HUD funds the amount is now $50,000? She can say otherwise, but the facts are the facts. After all,increasing the number of vacant lots seems to be more important to her than rehabbed, affordable home ownership opportunities.
In 2008 sixty (60) first-time buyers were assisted in purchasing and rehabilitating homes in all four wards of the City. Last year some forty (40) plus first-time buyers were assisted in purchasing homes. An unknown percentage of these involved property rehab.
This year, we have no idea how many first-time buyers were assisted in purchasing (and possibly rehabbing homes despite the massive influx of stimulus HUD funds to help in this cause. Mr. Adkins needs to step out from the shadows and provide an honest, informative status report on how he and his staff are utilizing HUD NSP-1 plus HOME Program funds as promised.
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