WEST DECATUR – If you live in Boggs Township, make sure your house is up to code because enforcement officers are beginning to make their rounds.
Jeff Williams, enforcement officer, told the supervisors and residents at Monday’s meeting that his crew is beginning to check properties for violations such as incorrect house numbers or letters and garbage around homes.
“We do not pick on any one individual, young, old, rich or poor,” he said
The inspectors began on Old Erie Pike recently and are systematically traveling through the township to make sure homes don’t have household waste outside or thing such as tires. They’re also looking to make sure that letters and numbers on houses are at least 4 inches tall and one-half inch wide.
“My guys couldn’t physically read (some of them) from walking up on the porch,” Williams said. “So how do you expect the ambulance operator to read them?”
For a first warning, Williams said he issues a hand-delivered statement that contains a three-day notice to correct the problem. The second notice is a formal one, delivered in the form of a certified letter. The third notice will be a non-traffic citation issued from a magisterial district judge.
“If you have garbage around your house or if your house isn’t numbered, get it taken care of.”
In addition to the height requirements, the numbers or letters must be Arabic numerals or alphabetic characters of a contrasting color of the background. The numbers must be visible from the street or road in front of the property.