Brownsville considers landlord ordinance
?BROWNSVILLE — Brownsville Borough Council is considering an ordinance that would require landlords to register their properties and provide the borough with a list of tenants.
The ordinance was proposed by Councilman James Lawver, who chairs the community and economic development committee.
He said the 26-page document is patterned after an ordinance in place in Connellsville.
“Forty-six percent of all properties in Brownsville are rental properties,” James Lawver said.
“Have you had any meetings with the property owners that would be affected? Before we adopt something like this, I think we should have a public meeting with them,” said Councilwoman Tracy Sheehan Zivkovich.
Zivkovich also questioned who would be responsible for enforcement of the ordinance if passed, saying the part-time code-enforcement officer is already overburdened.
“In the past, we’ve used the fees involved to add more hours,” said council President Jack Lawver.
Jack Lawver said the ordinance has been needed in the community for some time.
“It’s a necessary thing to have because there are too many people out there who are living in our community who aren’t paying for any of our services. It’s also for public safety. As a municipality, there are more good things to come out of it than bad,” Jack Lawver said.
Jack Lawver said a copy of the proposed ordinance is available for review at the borough office and a public meeting to discuss it will be held some time prior to the August council meeting.
In other matters, council voted to join the Mid Mon Valley Intergovernmental Cooperative at a cost of $200, plus annual dues.
The cooperative will be responsible for drawing up various intergovernmental agreements, such as the mutual response agreements for the police and fire departments with surrounding communities.
Council also agreed to send letters from each individual council member in support of a grant being sought by 40 area fire departments, including those in Brownsville, that would cover the cost of new radios for the departments and individual firefighters to keep them in touch with the county 911 center when a new county-wide radio system is installed.
Jack Lawver said the old radios won’t work with the new system being installed.
“That will put the fire departments out of business if we don’t have the money for the radios,” Jack Lawver said.