West Penn Supervisors discussed a burned out property at 2056 West Penn Pike, just off Route 309 in Snyders, on Monday.

The house had been in a fire in March 2017, and has since been left to deteriorate. The extinguished and tattered remains left standing are surrounded by rubble and debris.

Some of the windows and other access points had been boarded up since the house was abandoned.

Chairman Glenn Hummel said, “This has been dragging on for nearly three years now.”

The township reviewed options, discussing that with the cooperation of the engineer, they can obtain a court order to demolish the property.

Supervisor Tony Prudenti questioned whether the township would be liable and incur costs for the demolition. Solicitor Paul Datte said the township would incur costs.

Datte added, “A lien can be placed by the township on the property because of long-standing delinquent tax payments by whomever is in charge of the estate.”

A lien could execute a sheriff sale, Datte said, although the current value of the property is unknown. Additionally, it was noted that the person cannot be held responsible for cleaning up the house nor its adjacent unkempt surroundings.

The board concluded that the next step would be to have the engineer survey the location, followed by moving forward with legal proceedings to pulverize the property.

Another property

The township is looking into a tip received regarding a property located on Cat Tail Lane in New Ringgold.

The residence is heaped with rubbish. According to the complaint, nine dogs and a countless number of cats appear to be living in extremely unsanitary conditions.

Supervisors said the local SPCA had recently made a visit to Galloway.

Officials discussed a discrepancy within West Penn’s current property maintenance ordinance which officials say aren’t strong enough. They would like to adopt a property maintenance code that is more unified, and bears similarity to those of neighboring townships and municipalities.

The township will be sending a violation notice with possible condemnation to the owner.

The board announced that the rescheduled date of the next board of supervisors meeting is now set for 6:30 p.m. Sept. 8. Additionally, there will be a budget workshop meeting following the regularly scheduled meeting on Sept. 21.