Wheatland's housing rehabilitation program is close to being finished, and David Cusick thinks it has been good for the borough.

"We've had no complaints so far," said Cusick, council president. "So far, the people who had work done on their houses seem to be satisfied."

Fourteen homes have been rehabilitated, one more is under contract, and there is $8,697 left to a partial rehab, said Jane Waltz, who has run the program for Mourice Waltz Planners and Consultants, Sharpsville.

"Hopefully, all of the projects will be done at the end of March," Ms. Waltz said.

Cusick added that one person whose house was rehabilitated has died, and his family will have to pay back the $15,000 spent for the work. That money can be used for another rehab, he said.

Officials said they did not know when that money would be paid back.

The program was funded by a $250,000 Community Development Block Grant from the state. Under the contract with Waltz, $212,275 would be used for rehabs, and $22,725 would go to the company to implement the program.

Mercer County Regional Planning Commission is using $15,450 to administer the grant.

Homeowners who met low- and moderate-income guidelines and were current on taxes were eligible for deferred loans to have building code-related repairs done on their homes.

The loans do not have to be paid back if the homeowner lives in the house for five years.

Council has talked about applying for another grant, and Cusick said it still wants to do that, but holds out little hope of getting funded.

"That's like pie in the sky," he said. "There are so many hands out now, and we got our chunk."

Chris Conti, senior planner with the commission, said need will be a key factor in determining whether another grant application is filed.

There will likely be about five homeowners on a waiting list once the money is spent, and officials will seek more names of interested people, Conti said.