EAST PHARSALIA – As the garbage continues to pile and complaints from nearby neighbors worsen, one town supervisor said he, like many other government officials, is beginning to take action against residents who choose to disobey code regulations.
Dennis Brown, Pharsalia town supervisor, said a year ago property owners at the four corners in East Pharsalia began to clean up the debris surrounding their trailer. The property in question has piles of bagged garbage littering both the front and back of the home, a problem neighbors said is getting worse.
Neighbor Amanda Hamilton said she is worried for her children’s safety because the property, just yards away from her home, may pose a health risk. “If an animal gets into something over there and get rabies or something, it will put not only them but us in danger, too,” she said.
Hamilton said last year she saw an improvement at the residence, but it has since again become “horrible.”
“It is pretty bad when it is affecting the air you breathe,” she said.
Although the Town of Pharsalia has a junk ordinance in place, Brown said it does not help because the property in question is not littered with junk. “It is just (bagged) garbage,” he said.
Brown said he has been aware of the problem for some time and as of last year the tenants did start to clean up the property. “The tenant, I am aware, is on a fixed income with limited capability to get the place cleaned up,” said Brown. “However, he has stopped making any kind of attempt or effort to get it clean.”
“The first thing I do in a situation like this is go talk to them. Nine times out of ten, that is enough,” said the supervisor. “This time it wasn’t.”
According to Brown, the Chenango County Codes Department has been notified and the necessary paperwork and steps have been taken to get the tenant to rid the garbage from the property. Codes officers will be looking into the property resulting in penalties and fines, Brown said.