Smithfield council addresses horse issues
SMITHFIELD — Smithfield Borough Council on Tuesday requested assistance from residents to uphold the borough’s horse ordinance.
For the past two months, council has brought up the issues of people riding horses throughout the borough, causing damage to personal property and leaving horse excrement on the sidewalks.
For a perpetrator to be prosecuted, a resident must be willing to testify that they saw the person either trespass on property posted with a “no trespassing” sign, damage property or leave horse excrement behind.
“If you are able to catch one person, then it will stop,” said borough solicitor Gene Grimm.
During the discussion, it was revealed that if horse excrement is deserted by the rider on the sidewalk, the property owner is responsible for its removal. That falls in accordance with the borough’s ordinance that requires property owners to remove snow and grass clippings from the sidewalk in front of their property.
“We just want people to be respectful,” said council President Larry Leech.
In other animal-related matters, Mayor Chuck Cieszynski wanted residents to be mindful of their dogs and obey the borough’s leash law or keep them within a fenced yard.
He also wanted people to remember that a dog license needs to be attached to the dog at all times.
In an unrelated matter, Neal Christopher, an administrative aide to state Rep. Tim Mahoney, D-South Union Township, attended the meeting upon the lawmaker’s request to assist the borough in securing funding for a new police vehicle.
At last month’s meeting, after spending $450 to repair the borough’s current police car, council asked Jim Conway, also an administrative aide to Mahoney who was in attendance at the meeting, if there were a way of securing funding for a new car.
Conway said funding is tight, especially with walking-around-money (WAM) no longer in existence.
Cieszynski said that after last month’s meeting, Conway distributed letters to the city of Uniontown, Uniontown Hospital and the Fayette County Housing Authority to see if they would be willing to donate a police car to the borough.
No responses have been received at this time.
Councilman Bob Roderick expressed his concern over residents not following the proper procedure when they are making phyical changes to their property.
“I see lots of things happening, but I don’t see permits,” he said.
Jamie Hoone, borough secretary, said that people need to have a permit from Fayette County for any form of construction and must display the permit.
Council encouraged residents to call the Fayette County Planning, Zoning and Community Development office at 724-430-1210 if they have questions or to report a violation.
Councilman Arley Stoker, chairman of the lights committee, said he is researching the prospect of converting the 91 streetlights in the borough from electric to solar power.
Stoker said the streetlights are costing the borough $1,000 a month to operate. He said that during the summer, solar lights would be able to power themselves as well as generate enough power to send to the power company, which would generate revenue for the borough. During the winter, the lights would need to receive additional power through electricity.
Councilman Joe Zorosky, who said he felt the solar-powered lights would be a good idea, asked Stoker if the companies said anything about their lights being suited for a different geography that receives a large amount of sunlight.
Stoker replied that he was unsure, but would look into the question and see if a representative from a solar light company could attend a future meeting.
In other matters, council:
n Agreed to create a sign that would post the hours for the use of a basketball court on Firehouse Lane. The new times of operation will be from dawn to dusk and will be enforced by the borough police officer.
n Reminded residents that burning is only permitted from dawn to dusk on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
n Reminded residents that recycling is scheduled to take place Monday, and the reading circle will meet 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at Smithfield Public Library.
n Warned residents to be alert for various scams that have happened in the area. Council said if anyone is soliciting door-to- door, they need to apply for a permit from the borough first.
n Scheduled the next meeting for 6 p.m. April 17.