Jan 6, 2015 2 min read

McMURRAY – Peters Township Council agreed at its regular meeting Monday that something needs to be done about the growing amount of delinquent garbage fees – but exactly will be done about the problem remains to be seen.

Peters charges $51 a quarter as a garbage fee, or $204 a year. The township has been collecting trash for its residents since 1990.

The township placed liens on 61 properties for nonpayment of garbage fees, which now total in excess of $59,000, including costs, said township manager Michael Silvestri. Of the 61 delinquent properties, 24 owe more than $1,000.

“Each of these people has been notified,” said Paul Lauer, assistant township manager.

“How active do you want to be?” asked Lauer, who suggested the possibility of commencing a sheriff’s sale against the property owners. A sheriff’s sale is a public auction that is held once a court order is obtained to seize and sell a property to satisfy a judgment, or in this case, a lien.

Many on council thought a sheriff’s sale would prove too costly and there would be no guarantee that a sheriff’s sale would prove successful. No other options were debated at the meeting, which was council’s first of the year.

“We’ve got to do something,” said Supervisor David Ball, who was appointed chairman at the council meeting.

In other business, supervisor Robert Lewis was named vice chairman, a position that will likely lead to him being named chairman in 2016. Ball was previously vice chairman.

Council tabled renewing the contract of its solicitor, John Smith of Canonsburg, after Supervisor Gary Stiegel questioned the amount – $85,000 – the township spent on legal fees in 2014. Smith, a partner in the firm of Smith Butz, was hired in October 2013 by the township. He charges the township $120 an hour.

Prior to retaining Smith’s services, Peters used a single practitioner whose last legal invoice to the township was $45,000, Silvestri said.