Frustration boiled over Thursday night for a pair of Coal Street residents who demanded action on two adjoining properties in Jim Thorpe Borough that have sat damaged and deteriorating since a December 2022 fire.

Wayne Smith, a neighboring resident who filed formal requests for action at the borough office, addressed the council regarding the properties at 44 and 46 Coal St., where a double home has become what residents describe as both a health hazard and an eyesore.

“Each home is attached as a double. On December 1, 2022, a devastating fire broke out at the 44 Coal St. side, and it caused much damage to 44 and 46 Coal streets,” Smith told council. “Much wildlife has taken refuge in both properties since.”

Smith detailed the extent of the wildlife problem, saying there are “skunks and opossums, raccoons, groundhogs, rats and mice and other species of birds and many snakes that are living within the structures and the property.”

The properties have become overgrown, he said, with brush and debris.

“This is becoming a big health hazard to all who live and pay the taxes in our neighborhood,” Smith said.

Smith requested that the council direct the borough zoning officer to initiate action and compel the property owners to make necessary repairs.

“Please have this done before the properties become run down and then they become the taxpayers’ responsibility as the property on Center Avenue did,” he added.

Borough Manager Maureen Sterner said Jim Thorpe’s building code official had visited the site Thursday. She confirmed that 44 Coal St., where the fire originated, has been boarded up and is currently not in violation of borough codes.

“For 46, the code officer will be contacting that property owner for some items,” Sterner said. “We’re well aware that as soon as spring is sprung, everything is going to start growing, so we will be watching that carefully.”

When Smith asked if actions would be taken to compel the property owners to make repairs, Sterner explained the limitations of what the borough can legally require.

“We can’t make them fix them up,” she said. “We can make them stabilize and make the property safe and boarded up, but we can’t make them fix it up.”

Sterner said the property owner of 44 Coal St. is looking to sell the property.

Sarah Smith, identifying herself as residing at 45 Coal St., expressed her own frustrations with the situation. She questioned why no progress had been made despite the property at 44 Coal St. having been sold to a new owner.

“She’s done nothing with the property since it was sold,” Sarah Smith said.

According to Sterner, there was “a clear title issue” and the new owner “has spent months trying to obtain the proper title for the property.”

Expressing frustration about debris blowing from the properties during windy days, Sarah Smith said the negative impact on neighbors continues to intensify.

“I’m tired of going outside trying to keep up my property, which looks amazing, and I have to look at that crap,” she said. “The least they can do is clean it up. We’re paying taxes to live in our neighborhood, and we’re paying big taxes to live in the neighborhood. I want something done.”