Senator Joe Pittman yesterday was named the chairman of the Senate Urban Affairs & Housing Committee.
The committee’s responsibilities include reviewing legislation and resolutions on the use, transfer, inspection, and protection of property; vacant and unimproved public lands; public housing and urban development; and land banks, condominiums, cooperatives, and planned communities.
Pittman says that the committee has a direct effect on his 41st District, especially in regard to a particular program.
The Indiana County Office of Planning and Development in recent years has developed a Blighted Properties Inventory to assess abandoned, overgrown, or unsafe properties. The ultimate intent is to include mapping, geographic analysis, pictures, and a summation of the data on the county’s blighted properties.
Pittman’s appointment as chair of the committee lasts through the end of the current legislation session.
