Last week, a group of Johnstown Leaders went to Washington D.C. to meet with State and Federal Officials. Johnstown Leaders have quote: “A Strong Agenda” for this year and brought their requests to Washington for Senators, Congressmen, and Federal Agencies.
One of the discussion points Johnstown Leaders brought to Washington is the revitalization of the Inclined Plane, but even more so the surrounding area. Johnstown City Manager Ethan Imhoff saying: “The city is sponsoring a project called Sliver Park, which is going to be a new park down at the base of the inclined plane.”
But with the park they have to clean up some abandoned mines which will have more than one positive effect. Imhoff adding: “We’re working with EPA to secure funding to clean up some of those sites and make out water ways cleaner and also boost our efforts to enhance Sliver Park and the inclined plane area.”
Another issue from the trip is refurbishing buildings that have a potentially dangerous substance. Melissa Komar, the Executive Director of Johnstown Redevelopment Authority saying: “The authority owns many Brownfield sites, and we work with businesses and potential developers in order to bring those properties back into reuse.”
Section 8 Housing was also brought up. Imhoff adding: “Make sure that our public housing units are invested in and that we have housing that is in good condition and appropriate for the size of our community.”
But some of the most exciting news comes from the City’s financial status. Imhoff adding: “With Act 47, certainly we’re very excited come April the city will be shedding its financially distressed status.” Komar adding: “The trip to D.C. was very successful for the community itself. Emails, they’re obviously useful, and phone calls, but whenever you have the opportunity to have that face-to-face conversation you learn a whole lot about what they need to see on their end and we’re able to present what we need to implement on ours.”
