Magistrate’s office in Charleroi moving for repair work

District Judge Eric Porter will be in a building across from Chamber Plaza while damage from a water leak is fixed.

Interim plans have been made to relocate the office of Magisterial District Judge Eric Porter after the court building was condemned earlier this week due to extensive water damage.

Charleroi Borough Manager Joe Manning said hearings scheduled for the remainder of this week were canceled following Wednesday’s incident, when a water leak caused severe damage inside the building at 416 Fallowfield Ave.

Code enforcement officials ultimately deemed the structure unsafe for occupancy.

On Friday, Manning said the Washington County court administrator and Porter met with state IT officials and agreed to temporarily move court operations to office space across from Chamber Plaza.

“Equipment was shipped in overnight and my understanding is they are going to work this weekend to get everything up and running so hearings can resume on Monday,” Manning said.

The temporary location will be used while repairs are made to the condemned building.

Manning said borough Code Enforcement Officer Jamie Stasch has been in contact with the property owner regarding the condemnation and the steps required before repairs can begin.

“They were informed of the damage and that contractors brought in to repair the building will need to be certified and insured,” Manning said. “To my knowledge, he has not been inside of the building yet.”

According to Manning, borough code enforcement will continue to monitor the situation as repairs move forward. Because the structure is a commercial property, all necessary permits will be issued through the borough’s third-party building inspector.

Officials have not provided a timeline for when the building could be reoccupied, but Manning said the borough will remain closely involved until the matter is resolved and court operations can safely return to the site.