Charleroi may increase code enforcement’s ticketing power

By TAYLOR BROWN
tbrown@yourmvi.com
Charleroi borough may be enhancing code enforcement efforts.
During a meeting Wednesday, council discussed giving Code Enforcement Officer Bob Whiten power to write tickets for cars parking in unauthorized areas.
Council President Mark Alterici said this is not a new problem.
“This is not a new issue for us, but it is becoming a potentially dangerous problem,” Alterici said. “We had a fire in the borough last week and cars were parked along some yellow lines that made it difficult to access the hydrants in those areas.”
If council approves the move next week, Whiten, who is also chief of the Charleroi Volunteer Fire Department, would be allow to ticket drivers not obeying lines on the roadway.
“We are not trying to bring the hammer down on people, but this could cause potentially deadly problems,” he said. “Our first responders, especially our fire department, need to be able to access the tools they need to keep our communities safe.”
In addition to safety, it sometimes also makes it difficult for street department workers to do their jobs and could cause problems for garbage pick up.
“We are not asking Bobby to do any additional work, but he should have the authority to do so while he is issuing citations for other problems,” he said.
Whiten, who has not done indoor home inspections since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, will start doing so when communities enter the green phase Friday.
“We wanted to make sure he was as safe as possible during all of this,” Alterici said. “So during the pandemic he has been doing inspections from the outside of homes and businesses, issuing citations for grass, weeds and other items.”
Alterici said Whiten will soon begin going throughout the borough to check yellow lines to see if they need to be modified, shortened or repainted.

See the video from the meeting on our website at www.monvalleyindependent.com.