Redevelopment authority employees receive new titles, increased salaries
Five Fayette County Redevelopment Authority employees were granted new job titles and salary increases during a brief special meeting Monday. Four of the employees work in the weatherization department, and one employee handles inspections for the homeowner rehabilitation program.
Mark Santillo, Michael Czernatowicz and Charles Adams III were each promoted from installers to crew leaders. Each of their annual salaries will increase from $20,800 to $23,920, plus benefits. Michael Volek also received a promotion from crew leader to weatherization specialist, getting an annual salary increase from $26,000 to $28,600, plus benefits.
Executive director Andrew French said the authority had previously lost a few employees in the weatherization department but were able to replace them after the authority received federal economic stimulus money for the program.
French said two to three weatherization crew members are still needed, all of whom will receive state training.
The authority’s weatherization department provides upgrades to low-income homeowners to make their homes energy efficient. The work can include new furnaces, light bulbs, doors and utility line replacement. In addition to the repairs, homeowners are taught about how to save energy.
French said the stimulus money, which amounted to about $4 million for the authority, must be spent by September 2011. He said 252 homes were served in fewer than 12 months, and plans are to upgrade an additional 250 homes in the next year.
In addition to the extra funding, the authority also receives a standard allocation of funding to perform weatherization work. While it is normally about $500,000, last year it was closer to $1 million.
Late last year, George E. Cornelius, secretary of the state Department of Community and Economic Development, visited Uniontown during various stops throughout the state to get a firsthand look at how the county’s money was being spent, visiting a home in Uniontown.
In other business Monday, the authority voted to promote Robert Fike from part-time to full-time housing program inspector. His salary will be $27,500, plus benefits. French said Fike has been working for the past four months.
The authority board also approved a cooperative agreement with the Uniontown Redevelopment Authority, committing up to $528,400 in funding through the Fayette County Neighborhood Stabilization Program for the construction of new houses in the Gallatin Avenue area of Uniontown. The funding will be used to build three new houses, although a total of 10 houses in the area are planned.
French said over the past two years, the authority has been doing various blight-abatement activating, utilizing $1.8 million in neighborhood stabilization funding. Last month, the authority received an additional $600,000.
New houses have been constructed in Masontown, and demolition and rehabilitation have occurred in Uniontown and Connellsville.
All the action was taken unanimously, with board chairman Kenneth Finney and members Paul Bortz Jr. and Ray Polaski voting in favor of them. Board members James Woleslagle and Dee John were absent from the special meeting.