A burned out structure along High Street in Nesquehoning may soon be demolished.

Last week, borough councilwoman Abbie Guardiani, who has been spearheading the movement to fight blight in the town, which all started with this property, located at 3 and 5 High St., reported that Carbon County Common Pleas Judge Steven Serfass ruled in the case the borough filed against the home owner, Richard Emmert.

Guardiani said that she had been waiting to hear on a ruling but only learned on March 22, a few hours before council’s monthly meeting, that Serfass ruled in the case.

She said that the ruling actually came down on Feb. 10, but neither council, nor the borough solicitor, Robert Yurchak, had been notified by the county clerk of courts’ office that the ruling occurred.

Guardiani said that the good news in the matter is that Emmert has been fined $100 a day since Feb. 10 and has 60 days from the ruling to tear the structures down or repair it to meet the International Property Maintenance Code for the borough. Emmert also had 30 days to appeal the ruling, but Yurchak said he did not file an appeal.

“He is required to tear it down,” Guardiani said, noting that Serfass said the fine and costs must be paid by April 11.

Yurchak said that after 60 days, if he doesn’t take it down, the borough has the right to demolish the building and put a lien on the property.

RoniSue Ahner, borough secretary, asked if council could cite him for the cost of the demolition.

Guardiani said she wants the building torn down, as well as the money for the borough.

“He needs to tear this property down,” she said, stressing that it needs to come down or pay up to have the borough take it down.

Council said that they hope the clerk of courts office let Emmert know the ruling since it didn’t notify the borough of the ruling.

Tyra Boni, Carbon County Clerk of Courts, said Tuesday that she was looking into why the borough never received notification.

“It’s fantastic news for this borough because it sets a precedent that when that building comes down, it shows we are not messing around anymore,” Guardiani said. “You need to clean it up. When we say clean it up or fix it up, we mean clean it up or fix it up. It’s not that hard.”

Mayor Tom Kattner said that it is pretty bad when you have elderly residents working hard to maintain their house and then out-of-town owners who come in and buy property and neglect it.

Guardiani said this was the borough’s top blighted property and this movement is good news for the borough.

Three and 5 High Street has been a source of discussion since Guardiani and her husband, Joe, approached council in 2021 to ask what was being down about the then triplex home. The structure was heavily damaged in a fire approximately six years ago and sat unsecured since.

At the time, Guardiani, who was not yet on council, asked what could be done.

Since joining council, Guardiani has worked to fight blight in the borough and has been pushing things forward.

One High St. was demolished by the owner of the home, but the second owner, Emmert, had argued for keeping the structure standing.