EMPORIUM — Ordinance enforcement issues continue to be the topic of conversation at meetings of Emporium’s Borough Council.
Emporium Borough Police Chief Dave Merritt stated that borough officials are still working with the solicitor to find a legal avenue to remove nuisance vehicles from borough streets.
“Going through the courts and issuing fines is not working. We need to find out what the next legal step we can take after that process to get rid of these cars,” Merritt stated.
Not all of the vehicles are “abandoned” according to the legal definition of the word. If a property owner has given permission for the vehicle to be there, it is not abandoned. That is the case with many of the cars, and the process to remove them becomes much more difficult.
Member Bob Hostler gave two more locations where vehicles have been sitting for an extended period of time: on West Third Street and on the East End.
Most board members agreed that, while the process seems to be taking a long time, establishing a legal precedent to remove cars and deal with other ordinance issues is the right way to go.
Borough animal control officer George Sowers stated that he is also having issues with old ordinances, which are currently making it so he is unable to issue citations for people who do not license their dogs or keep up-to-date on rabies vaccinations. Sowers is also working with the solicitor in order to rewrite the laws in a way that gives the borough room to take action in cases of non-compliance.
Merritt also reported on progress on the Sixth Street rental property that has been a topic of discussion for several months. The property owner has until March to complete certain repairs outlined by Magisterial District Judge Barry Brown, who ultimately sided with the borough on a vast number of ordinance violations at that location. Council members stated that they have noted some progress on cleaning up the property.
The Cameron County Ambulance Service will soon be electing board members, and council is working to place Don Reed, borough manager, as the second representative for the borough.
“I think it would be in the borough’s best interest to have a second member, and I thought it should be (Reed) because we’ll mostly be dealing with financial issues going forward,” stated council member Randy Frey, who is the current borough representative on the CCAS board. “The municipalities are going to be more involved.”
Due to the financial support recently given by municipalities served by CCAS, more representation, and oversight, will be granted to boroughs and townships beginning with these elections.
A street committee meeting has been scheduled for this week to address drainage issues on Carson Street, amongst other issues. The borough will begin working on the Seventh Street project, which will also address drainage to the intersection of Woodland and West Allegany avenues.
Three new members were approved unanimously to join the Shade Tree Commission. Becky Pasquinelli and Carl Mitchell were added as full members, while Kathy Osti has been added as an alternate at her request.
The next meeting of the Emporium Borough Council will be held at 7 p.m. on March 7 at the borough building on North Broad Street.
