The Borough of Palmyra is looking to hire a Code Enforcement Officer to help combat vacant properties.
Palmyra’s Council convened in Borough Hall on Monday, Oct. 16, to move forward with the borough’s efforts to get abandoned houses occupied. Council unanimously adopted an ordinance on second reading to establish an abandoned property list.
“This is a significant step forward in the borough’s efforts to combat vacant and abandoned properties by using state statutes to our advantage,” said Borough Administrator John Gural. “We’ll have more tools that could benefit our neighborhoods.”
At the last council meeting on Oct. 2, Gural said the borough has more than 100 abandoned properties that it is aware of.
Gural said the plan is to hire a public official who will be responsible for maintaining the list. The borough will advertise for a full-time code enforcement officer with resumes due to the borough by Nov. 1. The code enforcement officer will be responsible for enforcing property maintenance codes.
“We recognize that they are a blight on our community,” Gural said of the abandoned properties. “Banks and financial institutions are primarily responsible.”
In other news:
- During his administrator’s report, Gural said the the borough is in the early stages of the budgetary process.
“We have officially begun the process for development of our 2018 budget,” Gural said.
He said the borough’s department heads have been given budget status reports indicating all purchases made to date this year. He said the borough collects this data and uses it as a tool to help formulate the borough’s needs for future budgetary years.
Gural said department heads have also been given budget worksheets to complete and submit along with their capital requests.
- Gural also informed those in attendance that the borough will open up for bids on Nov. 1 for improvements to Legion Field. He said the improvements come as a part of ongoing maintenance including fence replacement, sod repairs and improvements to the field’s irrigation system.
“It’s a beautiful facility,” Gural said. “We want to make sure it remains so forever.”
- The next meeting of Palmyra Council will be held on Monday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. in Borough Hall.
