Bradford City Council heard about housing improvements that may be coming to McKean County.

Dusti Dennis, executive director of the Redevelopment and Housing Authority of the County of McKean, talked about the potential changes with city officials in a public meeting held before the regular council meeting Tuesday evening.

The proposal would include rehabilitating county housing located in Bradford City, as well as reorganizing the units. The authority is looking to relocate some of the units — possibly to other municipalities in the county.

The authority was recently awarded a Commitment to Enter into a Housing Assistance Payment (CHAP) for its properties in the city, which is one step to entering the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

RAD allows public housing agencies to convert housing units to project-based Section 8 programs, with the goal of preserving and improving public housing.

On Tuesday, Dennis sought to get input — and hoped to get support — from city council members for the changes.

The 200 housing units in the city have various repair needs that current funding cannot address. An estimated $6.8 million will be needed over the next 20 years for upkeep of the units, according to Dennis.

The authority is proposing to reduce the number of units in the city by 5 percent, from 200 to 190.

The plan is to reduce the 128 units at the High Rise to 95 and the 50 units on South Center Street to 30. Also, the 22 units on Brookline Court will be torn down and rebuilt —12 at the same location, and 10 elsewhere. The High Rise will be designated as elderly/disabled, too.

The authority will maintain the same number of units, but some units will be relocated. It is the authority’s intention to find out in what municipalities authority tenants are looking for housing.

“We can’t just put housing where we want them to live,” said Dennis. “We have to put it where they want to live.”

Another intention of the authority is to reorganize housing so it’s not sitting in one clump.

“We want people to be integrated in the community” — rather than being clustered together in one area “where we call attention to it.”

At the suggestion of some housing being moved to other locations in the county, Mayor Tom Riel said, “I like the idea of spreading it out,” explaining that it’s “the community’s responsibility, not just the city’s.”

Riel added, “I don’t know how welcoming neighboring municipalities will be (to the idea).”

Dennis anticipates needing $12,019,000 for the project, which will likely use multiple funding sources, which could include mortgage, capital funds, operating reserves and a Low Income Housing (LIH) Tax Credit.

City administrator Teri Cannon wondered when construction on the project might start.

According to Dennis, once more details are in place there will be “a very specific timeline,” but in the meantime she doesn’t know. “Probably within a year, we’ll have our plan firmed up.”

A critical detail that will determine the actual scope of the project will be if the authority is approved for a tax credit.

Without the tax credit, Dennis believes the authority will be able to pull together funding for just the High Rise portion of the project.

Throughout the meeting, officials tossed around ideas.

For instance, Dennis suggested that many retired people are looking for a one-bedroom apartment with a patio. “People are looking for something that’s low maintenance and accessible.”

At one point, Sara Andrews, executive director of the Office of Economic and Community Development, proposed looking at rehabilitating existing vacant houses in the city, too.

According to Dennis, there are two properties in Smethport that could potentially be used for housing.

Andrews also suggested some units could be rebuilt to look more like individual homes with yard space.

The authority will be working with a RAD consultant on the project, according to Dennis.

As the group discussed the number of people on the waiting list for housing, Andrews noted, “It just goes to show you there is a real need for affordable housing in McKean County.” She added the need is for “decent affordable housing.”

Riel mentioned he’s always heard rumors that people move to McKean County from across the country to take advantage of the social services here, and he wondered if that was true.

“We don’t get a lot (of applicants) from out of the area,” said Dennis, who explained there are preferences for who gets housing — the greatest of which is being a resident of McKean County. She said they have to live here for one year to be considered a resident.

Dennis did note that other areas of the state, like Philadelphia, have much longer waiting lists for Section 8 vouchers, so someone from there may potentially come here to receive a voucher, then take it back with them, but she said “issues are very few and far between.”

During the regular meeting, council handled routine business including:

• Granting a certificate of appropriateness to Verizon to restore the existing architecture and replace the roof of 30 E. Corydon St.;

• Granting a certificate of appropriateness to Steve Warren to replace the existing rear porch of 15 Chestnut St. and stain it in antique red sealant.; and

• Permitting Chip Comilla, director of parks and public works, to advertise the sale of a Ford F-150 truck that has been removed from service.

Council will meet next at 7 p.m. May 9.