Renovo Faces Housing Hazards: Collapsing Home, Fire Ruins, and Illegal Livestock
By Kevin Rauch
The Renovo Borough’s Code Enforcement officer Joe Lyons and his employee Jeff Fry were on hand at
Wednesday’s council meeting to give an update on a multitude of properties that they have been monitoring throughout the community.
For an hour Lyons offered updates and progress reports on what they have been monitoring since being hired by the borough.
Lyons called the one-time church but what was most recently used as a home at 233 8th Street a “major, major problem”, fearing that a cave in is imminent. Lyons explained that in the time that they have served as Code Enforcement that they have seen the wall on the northern side of the structure become more and more bowed.
The roof on the house has at least two completely caved holes and with the house being brick, the potential of a resulting uncontrolled crash is a concern.
The issue confronting Renovo and Lyons is being unable to contact the owner.
With someone still owning the building, there are limits as to what code enforcement or the borough can do.
Lyons suggested to council that they move to a conservatorship and try to take possession of the house through the local magistrate, considering the danger that it presents.
Still, that won’t be an immediate remedy. Conservatorship itself takes time, but finding money to tear down the building is a whole other matter for the borough. Lyons offered to the council that perhaps they can appeal to the County for assistance since the situation is becoming dire.
The deadline for property owners to have a plan with the remains where a fire occurred recently at 229 and 227 Champlain Avenue in the borough is also approaching. One side’s owners were insured, while another wasn’t, so a result likely won’t be a real smooth transition.
The council has for the better part of two years tried to get possession of and fund a double house just a few houses up from where the fire occurred. Several council members as well as Mayor Gene Bruno expressed their frustrations that they felt for the other people living on the 200 block of Champlain Avenue and what they have had to endure with the previous double house and now the charred remains of another.
Lyons explained that the building at 624 Erie Avenue whose roof was blown off from a spring storm also received some complicated news. In addition to the roof, most of the electrical wires were pulled up and out of place as the roof was torn away. The code enforcer said that the property poses no immediate threat but a solution is not an easy one.
The former housing units that were once referred to as Mills Park on 13th and 14th Streets were also discussed, particularly chickens and ducks on the property, something that is not allowed in the borough. Citations have been sent and will continue as they look to get the birds removed from the property.
