SANATOGA PA – Lower Pottsgrove politicians would like nothing better than to “turn up the heat,” in the words of Board of Commissioners’ Vice President Bruce Foltz, on property owners who fail to mow their lawns, pull weeds from their curbs, or generally keep their parcels in less-than-legally-acceptable condition.

They were reminded Monday (Aug. 1, 2011), during their first of two monthly meetings, that only so much heat is available.

Last month’s (July 7) board discussion of inadequate property maintenance around abandoned or foreclosed homes within the township’s borders was kicked up a notch this week, as commissioners also complained about occupied properties they considered equally unsightly.

“There are some private properties that are getting really bad,” Commissioner James Phillips lamented, citing examples on North Pleasant View and Rupert roads. His colleagues readily agreed, and offered examples of their own.

That’s when Manager Rodney Hawthorne stepped in. “Now wait a minute, fellas,” he started, seeming to muster patience as he went along.

Codes Enforcement Officer Keith Place is the township employee who attempts to keep the unkempt in line, Hawthorne noted. He has other responsibilities too, so only a portion of his time can be devoted to identifying, finding, and urging lawn laggards to clean up their acts. “And Keith really pursues these things,” he added. “He spends hours upon hours” on the work, and keeps meticulous records “just because he knows the board will ask for them.”

With a still-growing number of foreclosures and abandonments, it’s not easy. Add to the mix homes occupied by owners who are lazy or uncaring about property condition, and the task becomes monumental, Hawthorne said.

Even if Place successfully contacts someone of authority who promises to resolve a problem – in recent cases, that’s an officer of a bank which repossessed a home – it often falls through. Mortgage lenders have so many foreclosed properties in their portfolios, Assistant Manager Alyson Elliott noted, that they’ve given up maintaining them. It’s too costly, she said.

Commissioners reluctantly acknowledged there may be no quick fix to the matter, and they thanked Place, who was not in attendance, for his efforts. They also, however, issued a public plea to home owners – and you know who you are, they said – to at least whack away at the high grass and higher weeds.

“There are places were the stuff is so tall, cars are hidden behind them,” Phillips reported.

Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ meeting of Aug. 1):

• Whack Away At Unsightly Weeds, Township Pleads
• July Tax Payments Trickle In At A Rate Of $528 Per Day
• Tax Settlements: An Awful Lot Of Paperwork To Net $677
• Lower Pottsgrove’s June 2011 Warrants Now Online
• Bridge, Guardrail Study Proposed For Pruss Hill Road
• Township 2009 Sex Offender Law ‘Might Not Stand Up’
• Commissioners OK KenCrest ‘Temporary’ Grenhouse
• Commissioners Gather For First August Meeting

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