Although the consulting firm hired to run Wheatland's housing rehabilitation program hasn't started its door-to-door promotional campaign, many residents already are interested.

Jane Waltz of Mourice Waltz Planners and Consultants, Sharpsville, said she has received 15 full applications, complete with copies of deeds and tax and income information.

Another 15 residents have expressed interest, and Waltz employees will be in the borough next week handing out informational pamphlets.

The onset of construction always brings a new wave of applicants, she said.

"As soon as you see one or two being done, people will wonder what's going on," she said.

Under the program, homeowners who meet low- and moderate-income guidelines and are current on taxes and utilities are eligible for deferred loans for building code-related repairs.

The income guidelines increase with the number of occupants. A person living alone would have to earn less than $23,000 to qualify, while a family of four would have to earn less than $32,900.

If the owner-occupant remains in the house for five years, the loan does not have to be paid back.

The program is funded by a $250,000 Community Development Block Grant from the state. After subtracting administration costs, about $216,000 will be available for construction.

The consultant will decide which houses are done after an inspection is conducted of all that qualify. The homes in most need of repair will be done first.

Council wants to rehab as many houses as it can with the money. The borough stated a goal of 18 houses in its application for the grant, but does not have to strictly adhere to it, Mourice Waltz said.

The goal will be hard to reach. It assumes an average of $12,000 work for each house, and the Waltzes said the average in other communities has been closer to $15,000 a house.

Mrs. Waltz said she always starts a rehab project with replacing electrical work, roofs and furnaces and installing smoke detectors, which add up to about $14,000 on their own.

"$12,000 is not going to go far," Waltz said.

But Waltz said he had no problem with council setting a cap of $12,000, with council retaining the right to approve higher amounts on a case-by-case basis.

He said he won't get a handle on costs until bids come in for the first few houses.

Mayor Thomas Stanton said he assumed there would be less expensive rehabs to balance out the costlier ones.

Waltz said he rarely does any under the average.

"Mostly we're trying to negotiate out things that aren't true code things to get the numbers down," Waltz said.

The borough is obligated to address all code issues, or not do the house at all, he said.

Waltz said he frequently also negotiates with contractors on materials to try to get their bid down to an acceptable level.

"It's our job to try and make it work," Waltz said. "We'll do everything we can to keep them on the program."

Homeowners also have the option of applying for a loan to cover items that are too expensive for the rehab program. Waltz said he has called banks and helped set up the loans.

Banks frequently are interested in loaning money because the borough is willing to take a second lien position on the house, and let the bank have the first.

Councilman Donald Stinedurf said he thought residents would be willing to get a loan to finish off the work.

"$15,000 worth of work for $3,000 ain't bad," he said.

The program will not have to deal with the stricter lead-based paint guidelines that have hurt interest in Sharon's program because Wheatland's funding was granted before the guidelines went into effect, Waltz said.

Waltz employees will wear identification tags signed by the mayor for their door-to-door promotion campaign.