A Jim Thorpe property owner accused borough council members Thursday night of “not caring about her family” one month after diverting grant funds away from a blight remediation project on Center Avenue.

Judy Williams, owner of 206 Center Ave., where her son resides in a duplex home with his family, said she doesn’t believe the borough has tried to work with them to resolve the deteriorating conditions at 204 Center Ave., just on the other side of a shared foundation.

“The house on the other side of my son is going to cave in,” Williams told council. “If it does, my son’s daughter, whose room is in the attic, is going to go with it. But all you care about is rerouting money somewhere else.”

Long considered one of the town’s biggest eyesores, the vacant 204 Center Ave. home was slated to be torn down using part of a combined $300,000 state grant the municipality partnered with Palmerton and Lehighton borough to receive in 2021.

Jim Thorpe, however, said it did not have enough grant money left to cover post-demolition remediation to Williams’ home next door.

In September, council approved a motion to authorize the borough manager to reapply for funds for the demolition of 204 Center Ave., along with the associated necessary restoration to 206 Center Ave. in order to complete that project.

The borough did not provide an update on that process Thursday night, but council President Greg Strubinger said any accusations that the governing body doesn’t care about the situation are untrue.

“We care and have cared quite a bit,” Strubinger said. “We went out and got grant money. It just got to the point where the repairs went beyond what the grant covered and anything beyond that would have needed to be absorbed by the taxpayers.”

Strubinger pointed out that taxpayers footed a $7,500 bill several years ago when the borough paid to clean up the property for fire safety reasons.

Barry Isett and Associates, the borough’s engineering firm, estimated the cost of remediation to the home owned by Williams at a minimum of $55,000. The work includes construction of a masonry foundation wall, relocation of the main electrical panel, installation of temporary shoring and other checklist items.

“I think $60,000 to this borough is a drop in the bucket,” she said. “I don’t think the taxpayers want to see a family suffer like my son and his family are. He paid his taxes and mortgages faithfully. He did nothing wrong for the borough to turn its back on him like this.”

For years, the borough has unsuccessfully tried to track down the owners of 204 Center Ave., listed as Emma & James Owen Real Estate LLC.

According to the 2021 grant application, $118,853 was proposed for use on any of five blighted properties in Jim Thorpe listed for reconstruction/rehabilitation. Those properties included 82 E. Third St., 56 West Broadway, 109 North Ave., 112 North Ave., and 209 Center Ave.

The money originally slated for 204 Center Ave. will be rerouted to one of those other projects while the borough looks into other grants.

“I don’t know why the borough is interested in using the money on properties that are not half as bad as the one my son is living next to,” Williams said.