May 13, 2016 4 min read

The ball is in Charleroi Area School District’s court.

Charleroi Borough Council approved a motion Thursday to not pursue the demolition order against the Atlas property, on the condition the former high school stadium and Atlas property be transferred to Mon Valley Alliance. If the property is transferred Mon Valley Alliance, the borough will obligate expenditures of as much as $100,000 for the demolition of the riverfront property to Mon Valley Alliance, so it can be developed.

At last month’s school board meeting, the board approved an option from Stone and Co. to purchase both properties for $100,000. Stone has a nearby concrete plant and wants to expand. Mon Valley Alliance approached the school board to acquire the properties, and the district has given the organization until the May 24 board meeting to come up with a plan and funding for the properties. A final decision on which proposal to accept is expected in June.

Borough council President Paul Pivovarnik said Mon Valley Alliance plans could include a ballfield at the former stadium site that would be built to entice college baseball teams such as California University’s, which currently plays at Consol Energy Field in North Franklin Township. The ballfield would replace the current field at Memorial Park.

The Atlas building would be demolished, freeing up riverfront property for development.

“The development of this property could be good for the community and bring jobs to the area,” said Pivovarnik.

In another matter, borough council approved a rental license fee in the amount of $52 per unit. In January, council raised the fee from $10 to $100. Letters will be sent to landlords in June, and the fee will be due by the end of 2016.

Councilman Randy DiPiazzo said council is working on a good landlord incentive that would possibly waive the rental license fee in the following year. With a recent shooting in the borough and drug activity, he said the borough wants to address chronic nuisance landlords and possibly reward good landlords by waiving future fees.

Landlord Carl Miklos said the fee is an illegal tax and presented the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling in the case of Commonwealth vs. Michael Tobin, which states such a license fee is an illegal tax since it is paying for the code-enforcement budget. Miklos said he pays taxes for police, fire, ambulance and code enforcement and feels the license fee is against the law. Miklos, who has 22 units, said he would not impose the extra cost on his tenants.

“I will go to court,” he said.

Resident Rich McFaddin said with drugs, it is hard to get tenants to want to move into the borough.

“This fee won’t help the community and will be an extra hardship on landlords,” he said.

The license fee will generate about $56,000 for the borough to help offset code-enforcement inspections and other expenses. Pivovarnik said the code enforcement budget is estimated at about $106,000.

In other action, council approved a $400-a-month raise for borough secretary Roberta Doerfler, effective June 1.

Council also approved a motion to address a property located at 429 McKean Ave.. The building is leaning, so council approved an emergency temporary shoring-up of the structure. They also approved a motion to direct the borough engineer to get an estimate for repair and an estimate for possible demolition of the building. Property owner Floyd Chew said the building has never been deemed unsafe or uninhabitable.

“I have made several calls to the solicitor, and he has not returned my calls. I would like to know what is going on with my building,” Chew said.

Fire Chief Bob Whiten Jr. advised council that the deparment’s rescue truck has been state-certified, the only one in the Mon Valley and one of only four in the county to be so designated.

“It is a big deal,” he said.