The question of who holds liability for a set of steps connecting West Broadway and High Street in Jim Thorpe Borough now rests with a Carbon County judge following a nonjury trial last week.

Ownership of the steps, built in 1885, was called into question following a slip-and-fall insurance claim in 2017. The claim prompted a land survey commissioned by Jim Thorpe’s council that showed the steps cross three property lines including that of the borough, Three Towers Apartments owner Tom Loughery at 49 W. Broadway, and an LLC at 61 W. Broadway, which is now a short-term rental.

Loughery testified Thursday in front of Common Pleas Judge Joseph Matika that he purchased his property in 2004. He said from that time until the insurance claim in 2017, he believed the borough owned all of the roughly 100-foot-long set of steps.

“I still believe that today,” Loughery told Matika. “There is no reason to believe that we owned them.”

Jeff Thomas, a 24-year borough employee, said he and other public service employees cleared snow off the steps when the crew had completed plowing streets after storms.

He also testified that he had helped remove a rusted section of railing and jackhammered a 20-square-foot section of concrete at the bottom of the steps in preparation for the replacement of that pad.

“We were directed to do that work by our supervisor,” Thomas said.

Asked if anyone ever suggested to him that anyone other than the borough owned the steps, Thomas answered, “no.”

Evidence presented Thursday showed the current Three Towers Apartments, to the east of the steps, was a former school also constructed in 1885. The property at 61 W. Broadway, was a parsonage for a church that was located on that school property before 1885.

“I never questioned the origin of those steps,” Council President Greg Strubinger said. “I was always under the impression they belonged to the school building. When the fall happened, a claim was made to the borough and our insurance company wanted proof of ownership, which is why the survey was done.”

Strubinger said, in his opinion and the property lines shown in the survey, the borough only owned the top part of the steps that are in the High Street right of way.

Andrew Roberts, who lives at 28 W. Broadway, said old newspaper articles include what looks to be proof of the borough spending just over $800 in 1885 for the construction of the steps. He also testified that articles show the borough approved the painting of railings in 1939 and helped secure $1.1 million in federal grant money, part of which went to the repair of the steps in 1978. A Community Development Block Grant was also utilized to repair the top portion of the steps within the last decade.

“There is nothing in any of these documents, or physical markings on the steps, that note different sections of steps are owned by different people,” Loughery’s attorney, Joshua Gildea, said. “These steps were dedicated to public use. The public walked up and down them longer than any of us have been alive.”

Jim Nanovic, the borough’s attorney, argued there is no clear evidence, including the fact the borough cleared snow off them, to show the municipality owned the steps.

“The borough crews would clear snow from in front of all the churches in town and those are not owned by the borough,” Strubinger said.

According to a deed presented in court, Loughery’s property includes 160-foot of frontage on West Broadway, which would encompass the steps.

“I’d like for a logical conclusion showing the borough had appropriated this land in the 1880s and built a set of public infrastructure that renders that land useless to any future owner,” Loughery said.