A Minersville woman is guilty of owning a dilapidated and unsafe building in Tremont, a Schuylkill County judge decided on Friday after dismissing her appeal.
Sharon A. Smith, 44, who did not appear for her hearing, must pay costs and a $200 fine, Judge John E. Domalakes ruled.
Domalakes, who heard the case without a jury, imposed the same sentence as Magisterial District Judge Carol A. Pankake, Tremont, who had found Smith guilty on Sept. 10, 2012, of allowing 250 E. Main St. to be in disrepair and ignoring a warning to fix it. Smith had appealed Pankake's ruling on Sept. 14.
Although Smith did not appear in court, Domalakes held the hearing anyway, and Tremont Code Enforcement Officer Marlin E. Sowers III testified that the building, a double-wide trailer on blocks, was unsafe when he inspected it on May 23, 2012.
"The property was in disarray for sure. There was a lot of junk scattered around the property," Sowers said. "There's no safe egress."
Sowers said he posted the property and sent notices to the defendant and her purported co-owner, Adam Smith. Sharon Smith received her notice but the one sent to Adam Smith was undeliverable, Sowers said.
He also said he returned to the property on July 18 and again Friday morning.
"I found no improvements" on either visit, Sowers testified. In fact, he said the only change he could find at the property was that a door had been closed.
Borough solicitor Christopher W. Hobbs, Pottsville, who prosecuted the case, said after the hearing that he does not know whether borough officials will take further action, but that it probably will be discussed at the next council meeting on March 12.