Dec. 29—EBENSBURG, Pa. — Funding collected through Pennsylvania's Act 152 is paying for several more blighted properties in Cambria County to be demolished, the Redevelopment Authority of Cambria County announced Wednesday.

Renee Daly, the authority's executive director, said that Leckey's Demolition Service will be given notice to demolish two properties at a time, with one of the first properties on the list being in Franklin Borough.

Funds in the county's Act 152 program are collected through $15 fees when properties in the county are purchased or sold, then are used to pay for demolition of blighted properties.

In October, Leckey's Demolition Service bid $122,650 and was awarded the contract to demolish properties at 409 Church St., Gallitzin; 1035 Pine St., Franklin Borough; 977 Roberts St., Nanty Glo; 101 Ferndale Ave., Ferndale Borough; and 117-119 Jackson St., East Conemaugh Borough.

Daly said that commercial properties in Nanty Glo, East Conemaugh and Ferndale required asbestos removal.

According to Daly, going forward, the Act 152 program will be used to demolish properties through the county's newly formed land bank, which will repurpose properties and put them back into taxation.

"We're really excited and looking forward to leveraging those dollars with those two programs hand-in-hand," she said.

Since the program's first demolition in 2018, the authority has completed 37 demolitions totaling $443,442 with Act 152 funding. The current round of demolitions is expected to be completed in the spring.