Perryopolis considering blight ticketing ordinance
PERRYOPOLIS — Borough officials are considering adopting an ordinance designed to more quickly eradicate unsightly blight — such as trash, abandoned vehicles, appliances, and high grass and weeds — that would impose fines ranging from $250 to $500 for property code violations.
“Our police department would be issuing the citations,” said borough Solicitor Deanna Fahringer following a council meeting Wednesday.
Fahringer said that the proposed blight ordinance is based on one being considered by Menallen Township that would allow for the issuance of immediately enforceable tickets that would help streamline the process by eliminating the wait time involved with court hearings. Rather than being citations that are enforceable by the courts and require a hearing, violations would be treated like parking tickets, meaning that fines and actions to correct the violations would be due immediately.
Whether the ordinance would include a mechanism providing that warnings be issued to property code violators before they are ticketed will depend upon the final language of the ordinance, a draft of which is being reviewed by the Pennsylvania Association of Boroughs, Fahringer said.
The proposed ordinance should be ready for council’s approval at the next council meeting on Nov. 12. If approved, the proposed ordinance will be advertized for public review, typically for 30 days, Fahringer said. Once advertized, council may adopt the ordinance and the borough may begin enforcing it.
Fahringer said that council had asked her to look into drafting an ordinance tailored upon the Menallen Township’s proposed Quality-of-Life Violation Ticketing Ordinance in August.
“We’ve had grass that’s come up to people’s knees, and we’ve been sending borough employees out to cut it, and it’s really not their job,” she said. “It’s their job if the grass is on borough property, but they’re not supposed to cutting grass on privately owned property.”
Also at the meeting, council voted 5-1 to have Fahringer draft a letter of opposition to HB 1671.
Sponsored by Rep. Rick Saccone, R-Jefferson Hills, the bill introduces language that would more stringently define when a public body could enter private executive sessions. It also would require that recordings of the executive sessions be retained for a specified period of time to ensure that violations of the Sunshine Law are not occurring. These recordings would not be subject to right-to-know requests, but may be made available by a court order for review by a judge.
“Everything has to be public. Why even have executive sessions if they have to be open?” said Councilman Bud Petrosky, who motioned for the letter of opposition to be drafted.
Councilman Garrett Hoose cast the only vote against the motion.
In other business, council:
— Announced that trick-or-treat this year will be from 3-5 p.m. on Oct. 26. A firemen’s parade will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Perryopolis borough circle.
— Announced that burning for fall clean up will be extended to include every Saturday until the end to November.
— Accepted the resignation of borough police Officer Michael F. Smolka III.
— Awarded a 50 cent-per-hour pay increase to officers Candis Emerick and Richard Champion upon receiving a satisfactory evaluation at the end of their probation period with the borough police department.