Dougherty Co. working to clean up dilapidated properties

ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - Dougherty County Commissioners are working to clean up some of the dilapidated properties around the county. Especially those damaged in storms.

The Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Homeowner Rehabilitation Program aims to fix homes that have been destroyed by natural disasters, like storms.

The program has gone on for about three years now. County leaders said it has improved the housing stock, and the neighborhoods overall.

“We have experienced presidentially-declared natural disasters in our community. And we’re still in the recovery process,” Michael McCoy, county administrator, said. “Recovery takes a long time. The event, not so long, but recovery is ongoing. And we’re still in the middle of that.”

These grant opportunities come from the federal government. There are also several projects that will simultaneously work to demolish blighted homes that were unable to be brought back from storm damage, including the January 2017 storms.

“We have the homeowner rehabilitation program. There are two of those going on currently,” McCoy said. “And we’re looking for other grant opportunities to further help recover from all the devastation that was experienced in this community. This will be an ongoing process. And we’ll continue to do everything that we can on our part to provide support.”

McCoy said the commission understands that homeowners may not be able to self-fund the renovation work needed.

If people would like to see what the county can do for their home, all they have to do is ask.

“They have to reach out,” McCoy said. “Right now, the application period is open for the homeowner rehab program. It’s restricted to about three zip codes. They can come to the Candy Room if they’re interested. That’s 125 Pine Avenue, in our disaster recovery office. And they can receive all the information that they need if they’re interested in applying.”

This is an ongoing initiative that will be in the works for years to come. It’s part of the overall agenda to fix up areas throughout Dougherty County.

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