Tarentum Action Committee works to combat blight in the borough

They’re cleaning up Tarentum by pulling one weed at a time.

A group of volunteers calling themselves the Tarentum Action Committee spent Saturday morning outside seven blighted properties in the borough, pulling weeds and clearing debris to improve their curb appeal, according to the committee’s chairwoman, Lorri Wildi.

“This is truly a grassroots effort,” Wildi said. “We’re tired of this, and we want to make a difference.”

TAC members have worked with borough officials this year to identify properties that are abandoned and blighted.

And then they took matters into their own hands — literally — and cleaned up the properties.

This is the second cleanup they’ve hosted this year. The first was June 1, and they hope to do more, Wildi said.

Twenty-five volunteers came out for Saturday’s cleanup. They included Wildi and Councilwoman Erika Josefoski, plus borough public works officials, police officers and code enforcement officer Anthony Bruni.

The properties that were cleaned up are considered the be abandoned. Their owners are at least three years delinquent on their taxes. The owners-of-record were notified before the cleanup, Bruni said.

“The neighbors wanted to take matters into their own hands and clean up the community,” Bruni said.

“We’re trying to fix them up so they can be more desirable,” and be sold through Allegheny County’s Vacant Property Recovery program, Wildi said.