MAHANOY CITY - As the weather improves in the spring months, code enforcement in Mahanoy Township will be more evident, according to Code Enforcement Officer Larry Levy.
Supervisor Chairman James Stevens introduced Levy, who attended his first township meeting Thursday.
"I have a few things for public information," Levy said. "I came in late last year so I really didn't have time to tackle much of the things that are going on, but this spring we're going to begin reviewing and enforcing some of the violations on dilapidated properties, whether it be the structure itself, high weeds or garbage in the yard."
Enforcement of ordinances dealing with violations involving garbage in yards, dilapidated properties, stray cats and more was discussed by Levy during Thursday's meeting of the township supervisors. Levy was appointed as part-time code officer in August on an as-needed basis, and was retained in the position during the reorganization meeting in January.
Levy explained that he will contact the owner first and discuss correcting the problems as soon as possible as a warning.
"After that, if it's not corrected in a time or there hasn't been any attempt to correct the problem, citations will begin," he said. "And those citations can go on a daily basis."
Levy asked the public to file any complaints at the township municipal building.
"I ask you to stop in here and fill out a complaint form so I have all of the information that I need rather than getting a phone call," Levy said. "That's what's going to start in the spring. There are quite a few on the list that we're going to start resolving some of these issues."
"I believe you're working on some now," Stevens said.
"Yes, I have a couple of them now that I'm having a difficult time because of tracking down the owners," Levy said.
"Some of the issues we don't enforce a lot right now because of the bad weather, but once that's over, you can get things started and I hope you can get things cleaned up," Stevens said.
He added, "Larry has brought a lot of good ideas that he can do as a code enforcement officer and I think he can help us out a lot."
During the public comment part of the meeting, Park Place resident John "Bucky' Byer asked about the problem with stray cats at one property on High Road in Park Place where the owner is feeding them. This has been an ongoing problem. Stevens said the owner has approached him about trying to correct the problem. Levy said he will contact the owner and discuss the problem, particularly dealing with the new animal nuisance ordinance.
"What I can do is review that ordinance and send her a notice that it is a violation of the ordinance," Levy said. "And if it continues, then a citation will be issued."
During his report, solicitor Eric Lieberman presented two resolutions to the supervisors for approval. The first resolution authorized the supervisors through the state Legislature's Act 511 to appoint a liaison between Berkheimer Associates, which is he collector of the earned income tax in the Schuylkill Tax Collection District, and the township in order to share confidential tax information with the STCD for official purposes.
"The people at Berkheimer and the state want somebody appointed in order to have a direct line of communication involving confidential information that may be acquired in the course of collecting taxes," Lieberman explained.
The supervisors adopted the resolution and appointed township tax receiver Nancy J. Kardisco as the liaison.