POMEROY — Demolition is underway and so far six abandoned homes in Pomeroy and Middleport have been torn down using funds through a new grant program.

In Meigs County, a $134,700 share of a grant distribution, designed to eliminate blighted residences and provide a newly-built home to one qualifying family is being spent. Meigs County’s Grants Administrator Jean Trussell said Friday there have been six demolished in the villages through the program. Friday, demolition was underway at an abandoned and unsafe home on Mulberry Avenue.

Nine houses have been targeted for demolition. They are located on Condor, Lincoln, Rock, Locust, Logan, and Custer Streets, two houses on South Third Avenue and another on Mulberry Avenue. Build-it Group of New Matamoras will be paid $60,000 for the work.

Meigs and Gallia counties are among five participating in the Neighborhood Stabilization program, and dividing $1.2 million in federal funds.

The program funds activities designed to rehabilitate homes and make them available to low to moderate-income first-time homebuyers. In addition to eliminating blighted properties, the program is also designed to address a predicted underlying problem foreclosure rate of 13.6 percent, particularly identified in Middleport. Middleport’s home vacancy rate is 8.78 percent.

Vinton County Economic Development Director Ken Reed is the administrator of the program. Lawrence and Scioto counties are also participating, as are the cities of Portsmouth and Ironton.

“A great number of units” were identified in the program’s preliminary application process.

The distribution of funds was based on unemployment rates, foreclosure rates and census data, the number and percentage of home foreclosures in each unit of general local government, the number and percentage of homes financed by a subprime mortgages, and the number and percentage of homes in default or delinquency.

A new home will be built in Middleport in cooperation with the Gallia-Meigs Community Action Agency, using funds available for that purpose, for sale to a qualified first-time homebuyer. All told, demolition activities and new home occupation must be completed in the next year.