Schuylkill Twp. considers quality of life ordinance

A quality of life ordinance is on the horizon for residents of Schuylkill Township, but the board of supervisors isn’t quite ready to adopt it yet.

The board has been kicking the idea around for the past few months in order to give the code enforcement officer another tool to combat issues such as high grass and abandoned vehicles.

This month, residents brought up another issue that could be covered under the ordinance: the semi-permanent parking of recreational vehicles, trailered boats, or tractor-trailers along township roads.

According to the residents, there has been an ongoing situation in the township where an RV has been parked along a township road for several weeks at a time. Supervisors will look to add to the ordinance to address this situation.

Police chief and code enforcement officer Frank DiMarco advised supervisors that the township may have to arrest a property owner in Newkirk for ongoing nuisance fire calls to his property.

The property in question experienced a fire and has been condemned, but the property owner has not addressed the condemnation, and there have been several more fire calls to the property for fires set by the owner.

DiMarco noted that the walls on the structure are caving in and it continues to deteriorate. The owner has ignored summary violations that have been issued against him.

“This is a unique situation,” said DiMarco.

Supervisor Charles Hosler agreed.

“This is a nuisance issue. We can’t keep doing this, we can’t keep pushing this off.”

Township secretary Colleen Barrett distributed information from the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency to remind motorists that school buses will be back on the road soon. People convicted of violating the school bus stopping law can face a fine, points on their driving record, and a 60-day license suspension.