EMPORIUM — A hearing held Monday at the Magisterial District Judge’s office in Emporium was discussed along with movements on other ordinance violations during a meeting of borough council held Monday night.
Cameron County District Judge Barry Brown sided with the borough in a case against Fred Burkhouse concerning a number of ordinance violations at an apartment building on West Sixth Street which has been in a state of disrepair for a number of years.
Brown gave Burkhouse 60 days to finish cleaning up the property before fines of up to $600 per day can be levied against him for non-compliance.
Emporium Borough Police Chief Dave Merritt handled the case and continues to check on progress at that location and several others that have had filings placed against them by the borough of late.
Merritt is also working to remove a number of vehicles that fit into the abandoned cars ordinance. As many as seven vehicles across the borough are being checked to see if they can be removed by a licensed salvage operation so as to limit liability to the borough and to abide by state law. Four of those cars are in one yard on the west end and two are located near Portage Street.
“We’ve been aware of the car problems but we’re getting on this. Dave (Merritt) is the first chief to make this a priority but it does take time. We didn’t get a lot of cooperation before,” stated council member Randy Frey. “Ordinance enforcement is a priority for us this year.”
A brief reorganizational meeting was held prior to the regular meeting, with former vice president Luann Reed being unanimously voted in as president for the next two years.
Frey was elected vice president; Ben Newton will serve as president pro-tem; Don Reed will continue to serve as secretary/treasurer. Edwin Tompkins III will retain the solicitor’s position, and the repository bank will be Northwest Savings Bank.
Resolution 16-01 was approved, setting meeting dates for the first Monday of each month at 7 p.m. for regular meetings, with the third Monday reserved as needed. Committee meetings will be held the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month. Committee appointments will be announced at the February meeting.
Susie Newhouse was appointed to the zoning board to serve a term through Dec. 31, 2018.
Two members are needed to join the Shade Tree Commission. Applicants must be residents of the borough. The openings will be advertised in local papers and require a letter of interest to be sent to the borough.
The next meeting of the Emporium Borough Council will be held at 7 p.m. Feb. 1 at the borough building on North Broad Street.
