West Brownsville vows to get tough on junk cars, public nuisances
WEST BROWNSVILLE – Mayor Martin Brockman said that he and council are going to “strictly enforce borough ordinances about junk cars and public-nuisance ordinances,” wanting the local residents to be warned before fines are issued. Local resident Dorothy Oyenik approached council at their meeting Tuesday on behalf of her mother, Mary Terano, who lives on Washington Avenue.
Oyenik complained that a resident living near her mother’s home had a junk car that blocked the stop sign on that road.
“It’s a dangerous situation,” said Oyenik. “This person works on junk cars on his property and he operates at all hours of the night,” said Oyenik. She also alleged that people near the property ride quads at all hours, as well, and said the noise was too much for an elderly woman to deal with.
“We are aware of the problem in that area,” said Brockman. He added that borough police “will look into it and the problem will be taken care of.”
In other matters, contractors working for Norfolk Southern Railroad company approached the board to ask for a permit for a sewage holding tank at a building the firm is erecting.
The building will facilitate the changing of crews, who currently have to wait in vans for the trains to come through.
Crews would be housed in the building while waiting to begin work.
Contractor Tom Lankes requested the permit from the board and councilman Dan Kendall, also president of the Center West Joint Sewage Authority, said that they could have the permit under two conditions:
– “Once public sewerage comes to town, the company would be required to tap in and couldn’t have the holding tank any more,” said Kendall.
– He also said that borough officials wanted the company to send them a letter agreeing to make the building handicapped-accessible.
Council said they will grant the permit after receiving the company’s agreement to those conditions. Officials said they still are not satisfied with Norfolk Southern because the rail firm still has not completed work on the roads. The council at prior meetings has discussed how the railroad had caused erosion and members said they believe it is unsafe.
Secretary Jack Sabo reported that the company sent a letter to the board, saying its officials are aware that the conditions exist and they would get to work on it in the spring, when they had access to asphalt. However, councilman Larry Beck said, “They will not solve the problem of eroded asphalt just by putting down more.”
On a more positive note, board president Pat Maxon said council is about to begin a flower project for the borough.
“We are asking for help from anyone who would like to by donating flowers or helping us plant and water the flowers,” said Maxon. “We really had a good time doing this last year, and a lot of people commented on how nice it made the borough look. This is all about community spirit.”
She said borough officials are always happy to find volunteers for trash pickup.
“We want to do whatever we can to keep the borough clean.”