$9 million fix: Johnstown council faces 'deplorable conditions' at city's public safety building

May 9—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Fraternal Order of Police Flood City Lodge #86 President Dan Zakraysek passed out photos that depict rundown conditions inside the nearly century-old Public Safety Building during Johnstown City Council's meeting Wednesday.

There were images of water in the basement, dirt hanging from vents and mold.

City Council members were already quite familiar with the conditions of the structure where they hold their meetings. It is also home to the city's fire and police departments.

Zakraysek, whose union represents the police officers, said at least two members have required sinus or nasal surgery that could be related to the environmental conditions.

"Our concern is the health of these officers, their safety also," Zakraysek said. "We deal with it on a regular basis, the safety on the streets. They should not have to deal with the deplorable conditions in this building."

Mayor Frank Janakovic agreed the conditions are "deplorable."

City Councilwoman Laura Huchel read a report from Planning Commission Chairman James Carthew that estimated it would cost $9 million to renovate the public safety building if all the necessary work was done regarding interior construction, mechanical and electrical upgrades, facade and roof work, and the installation of an Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant elevator that stopped on every floor.

The city is developing a plan to construct a new public safety building on Washington Street.

A delegation of city representatives, including City Manager Ethan Imhoff, brought up the matter during a recent trip to Washington to meet with federal officials.

"This will be addressed," Imhoff said. "This is why were in D.C. seeking money for a new public safety building. There's so much deferred maintenance in this building it is very difficult to keep up with."

Zakraysek brought up the possibility of using some funding that is being considered for the Central Park remake that is part of an overall Main Street corridor beautification project to clean up the public safety building.

City Councilwoman Marie Mock and City Councilman Charles Arnone discussed exploring possibilities of redirecting some of the funds from the $17 million streetscape project. Of that total, $8 million in American Rescue Plan money could be used elsewhere, but the rest is grant money that is specifically locked into transportation projects. Council must finalize plans for the ARPA money by the end of the year.

"We need to make some sort of decision," Arnone said. "It's done at the end of December. We need to move on it now because that's only seven months away and it takes forever to get things done, so we need to move it now and not talk about it anymore."

Council also declined for the city to become an official co-applicant on the Johnstown Housing Authority's application for a $500,000 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Choice Neighborhoods planning grant.

The money would be used to examine how to improve the Oakhurst Homes and Coopersdale Homes, along with nearby neighborhoods.

Janakovic, Mock and Deputy Mayor Michael Capriotti voted against the resolution.

Mock and Capriotti expressed concerns that any HUD plan could involve more public or subsidized housing coming into the city.

"We represent the residents, and the residents don't want more housing. ... We don't need more units," Mock said. "That's the problem. Nobody can seem to tell anybody that this is a good thing if you're going to get more units. Nobody can say that more units is good for a neighborhood community like this that has 18,000 people. It's so out of balance."

Capriotti added: "My two cents is simply this, I understand the purpose of the study. I understand what the housing authority would like to do with the study. ... We've all heard the same thing from residents, other politicians, the community alike, who have all said the same thing, we have far too many public housing units for the size, and structure and infrastructure that our city currently has."

The Rev. Sylvia King and Huchel supported it, as did Arnone, who is also chairman of the housing authority.

Ricky Britt was absent, so the roll call ended in a tie.

King provided pros and cons for both sides during her comments. Ultimately she spoke about the concentration of poverty in those communities and felt, "If there's opportunity to change that, I believe that's a good thing."

Huchel added: "One of the great things about a study is that it does give us opportunity to participate and give input."

JHA Executive Director Mike Alberts explained what he thought would be the benefit of the city joining in the application process during a presentation before the vote.

"It's not enough for the city to say yes we support the idea of doing positive redevelopment in the neighborhood," Alberts said. "It has to be the city as a co-applicant so that we can say that we have some of the city's resources at our disposal as far as community and economic development department and have the city saying that they're willing to participate in a 30-month planning process."

Alberts said the authority still plans to move forward with the application.