Connellsville Health Board orders property to be demolished
CONNELLSVILLE — The city’s health board on Monday declared one property a public nuisance and addressed problems with several other properties in the city.
Tom Currey, city health and code officer, said no one is taking care of a building located at 114 Gallatin Ave., and asked the board of health to declare it a public nuisance and order it to be demolished.
Currey said the city is not sure who owns the building, but that at one point, it was owned by Mark Fremd.
“The roof is falling, shingles are almost non-existent,” Currey said.
Also Monday, Currey reported that the owners of a house at 511 Johnson Ave. have not moved forward with a demolition order that the board approved in August.
Currey said that he cited Denise Sarretta and Corey Adams for failure to demolish a structure.
In 2011, Sarretta was removed from the home after it was declared unfit for human habitation.
“It’s getting worse,” Currey said. “It is a public nuisance.”
He also addressed the board with findings from a right-of-entry inspection.
The board demanded a right-of-entry inspection for a property at 328 N. Pittsburgh St., which is owned by Mary Skelton and Barbara Swink.
He said the inside of the building is “not as bad” as the board had thought. Currey said an inspection can be demanded if there are enough violations on a property’s exterior to be a cause for concern about the inside of the property.
“They have made some progress on the inside,” he said. “They still have a lot of work to do. They have a plan, and if we can just keep them to the plan it will keep them moving forward.”
A right-of-entry inspection for a second property, however, has been ignored.
The board demanded an inspection for a building at 256 E. Fairview Ave., which is owned by Paula Upton. Currey said Upton has ignored the letter and has not yet responded to a citation.
“It’s in bad shape,” he said.
“It concerns me. It really concerns me.”
In other business, Currey said some progress has been made with a property located at 237 N. First St.
At one point, the building was filled with an estimated 1,000 tires and posed a fire hazard, he said.
Currey said about 98 percent of the tires have been removed from the property.
He also reported that Charles Osler, owner of a building at 122 S. Pittsburgh St., has made “significant progress” on the property.
“He’s making himself move forward,” Currey said.