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The Neighborhood Stabilization Program, or NSP as it is know, is another Stimulus Bill project which Harrison Township’s Development Department’s staff was able to take advantage of in 2009. The NSP was designed to assist communities remove vacant and dilapidated homes from their existing neighborhoods. Harrison Township was awarded a $75,000 grant to assist the department’s efforts in stabilizing some of our older neighborhoods in the township. The NSP Demolition project will assist Harrison Township in its overall efforts of removing blight and slum from our community. It is consistent with our overall goals and efforts for the entire township as a whole but primarily will be felt in the Ft. McKinley and Northridge neighborhoods in particular. Starting with a CDBG grant, which was awarded in 2006 by Montgomery County, Harrison Township has demolished structures on nineteen separate parcels in the last seventeen months, thirteen of those being done with the aid of the 2006 CDBG grant. The township’s goal in the Ft. McKinley neighborhood is stabilization and redevelopment through the removal of dilapidated structures, enforcement of zoning and property maintenance codes and promotion of infill development. The Northridge Community is one in which the township’s goals continue to be removing dilapidated, vacant and aging housing stock from the community, continuing to improve the infrastructure in the region, and implementing stronger code enforcement presence in the area as a whole. With the assistance of the NSP, the Development Department continues to work towards the overall goals as previously mentioned. Montgomery County is the project manager for the NSP. Approximately 9 residential properties in addition to the old Dairy on the corner of Pittsburg Avenue and Salem Avenue (3977 Salem Avenue) will be demolished with the $75,000 award. This project's bid opening was July 16, 2010 and work should be completed by the end of summer. Montgomery County Community Development Department announced, after reviewing all the bids opened on July 16th, the contract was being awarded to B&B Wrecking, Inc., Evans Landscaping, and Steve R Rauch based upon "responsive to the bid and best pricing (of) individual properties." MCCD hopes to have the contracts for the overall project signed by September 1, 2010. Due to federal specifications of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, the project must be completed no later than 90 days from that date. On October 19, 2010, Steve R. Rauch Inc. started the demolitions of the residential structures in Harrison Township. Rauch started with the structures located at 3545 Evansville Avenue and 46 Redder Avenue. The project should be completed with the final residential properties being demolished in early 2011. Evans Landscaping was the contractor responsible for the former Dairy located at 3977 Salem Avenue. Starting in March of 2011, township staff compiled a new list of an additional 11 residential structures, located in all three areas of Harrison Township, which will be able to be added to the NSP Residential Demolition Project. Township staff completed the dangerous property legal process for the additional 11 residential properties that are being added to this project and received permission to advertise this project for bid at the July 5th Board of Trustees' meeting. Harrison Township opened sealed bids for the project on August 18, 2011 and awarded the project to Bladecutters in the beginning of September. The project was underway in the middle of October of this year and should will be completed by the end of November. With the addition of these eleven properties, Harrison Township will eventually demolish 20 residential structures and the former Dairy on Pittsburg and Salem Avenues in this one project. Harrison Township staff is currently compiling a target list for possible additional demolitions heading towards 2012.
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