Boarding up homes
Cumberland Twp. officials to take action CUMBERLAND TWP. – Township supervisors on Monday said they would board up some vacant homes in Nemacolin and check into funding for demolishing the homes.
They agreed to address the houses and tear down some old garages after resident Pat Crawford said some of those homes are near hers and she is worried about someone setting them on fire.
She said the windows are broken and police are often called to remove squatters.
Zoning officer Charlotte Blaker said the owners have been cited and the homes are on Greene County’s tax sale list, but no one seems to be interested in buying them due to their poor condition.
William Groves, chairman of the board of supervisors, said the fines were $600, but they apparently were not enough to move the owners to take action.
Supervisor William Nicholson said demolishing a home costs about $7,000.
Groves said the township budget does not have enough money to fund many demolitions, but the homes will be boarded up and some old garages will be demolished.
Community development coordinator Marcia Sonneborn said if Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) money were used for demolition in Nemacolin, the township would have to replace the homes it tears down with homes for people with low to moderate incomes.
She said she would check to see if the township could avoid building replacement homes if the homes being demolished are not habitable.
Groves said the results of the census will determine whether Nemacolin qualifies for CDBG money.
If it doesn’t qualify, the township won’t be allowed to proceed with a planned $50,000 water line replacement project there, he said.
The supervisors heard a separate complaint from resident Rich Ermlick, who said members of a local boat club ride dirt bikes and all-terrain vehicles “24-7” and have loud parties lasting into the early morning on weekends.
He said a new bridge is covered with three inches of dirt from the riders.
Groves said the supervisors would look into the complaint. Blaker said she would check the club’s zoning to see if the property is being properly used.
In other business, the supervisors:
n Encouraged residents to attend a meeting that Penn State Extension is holding to discuss Marcellus shale gas drilling and its impacts at the Carmichaels-Cumberland Township Volunteer Fire Department, 420 W. George St., Carmichaels, at 7 p.m. Thursday.
n Increased the street light fee to $37 a year from $35.
n Applied to the U.S. Department of Agriculture for a grant that would cover 55 percent of the $242,000 cost to buy a street sweeper and a tractor.
n Approved heavy hauling agreements with Blue Star Lumber for Kurans Road and with Penneco for Haines Road.
n Approved a road maintenance bond from Bryner Lumber for Old Ferry Road.
n Accepted Patrick Schmidt II’s resignation from the police department.
n Hired Robert Schiffbauer as a part-time worker at $10 an hour.
n Donated $5,000 to the fire department to help pay for repairing and repaving the department’s parking lot.
n Replaced W&W with Dunbar, Bender and Zapf as the employee pension fund actuary.
n Hired McMillen Engineering of Uniontown as a second third-party engineer to comply with the Uniform Construction Code.