Council to ‘back off’ curb issue
East Washington Council plans to revisit and simplify its curb ordinance after several residents brought forward more complaints and concerns during Monday night’s meeting.
Borough resident Peter Magnotta received a letter to fix the curb in front of his East Beau Street home, but he raised concerns about whether he would be held responsible if the contractors hired to do the work damaged the state-maintained road. He pointed to similar work performed recently on Wilmont Avenue that “ruined” the road there.
Several residents across town, but mostly centered along East Beau, have received letters in recent weeks from the borough’s code enforcement officer demanding they repair or replace the broken or missing curbs on their properties.
“You’re going to have a bunch of contractors doing a mishmash of work,” Magnotta said. “It’s just disheartening to hear. I’ve lived there 20 years, and suddenly this ordinance comes out in February. It just seems like an over-extension of authority.”
In response, officials decided to “back off” the curb issue for now as they begin work on how to simplify the ordinance, Council President Guy Tucci said. He added that the current ordinance, passed in February, was “so precise and complicated” that it was difficult for the borough to properly enforce.
“We can’t let it entirely go, but I think we need some common sense,” Tucci said. “Some of (the curb repairs) might be legitimate. We need to sort of figure out where the people are on the issue and talk to them.”
Councilman Blake McCandless said he did not think the ordinance in its current state adequately addressed the issue and that it might create more problems in the future.
“Common sense dictates you cannot fix the curbs without damaging the road,” McCandless said.
Several other residents spoke about the curb issue during the meeting, but also ripped the borough for accepting anonymous letters that have been streaming in recently complaining of various code violations. Council previously asked Michael Behrens, the code enforcement officer, to respond to each complaint, including the anonymous letters. Council voted unanimously to reverse that decision and require a name and contact information be attached with each complaint.
“If people don’t have the guts to put their name to it …” Councilwoman Mary Taufer said. “Shame on these people who have nothing better to do.”
But borough resident Joe Grazulis said the issue goes beyond just anonymous complaints. Grazulis received a letter in the mail requesting he stop fixing his automobiles inside his two-car garage at his East Beau Street property, which baffled him since he’s not operating an auto body shop. He also is being required to repaint his house, which he said he doesn’t have the money to do right now.
“There’s a lot of hard-working people around here who don’t have money falling out of their pockets,” Grazulis said. “You got to give people leniency. We need to work as a community.”
Behrens said he understood Grazulis’ concerns and had already agreed to give him 18 months to complete those repairs. He said East Washington Mayor Michael Gomber complained to him about the auto repairs. Grazulis said he could find nothing in borough ordinances that would prevent him from working on his own vehicles.