Identifying themselves as a “group of citizens,” about 10 people have asked the Farmington Township supervisors for its support in invoking the state’s abandoned and blighted property conservatorship law — Act 135 — against three properties in Leeper.
Act 135 allows the court to appoint a conservator to rehabilitate deteriorating residential, commercial and industrial buildings.
The conservator is then responsible for bringing buildings into municipal code compliance when owners fail to do so, and steps into the owners’ shoes for the purposes of filing plans, seeking permits and submitting applications.
At the center of the matter are three lots with uninhabited and deteriorating homes along Route 36 owned by Douglas Frampton. The properties are in close proximity to the Rail 66 Country Trail.
The houses remain in violation of the township’s dangerous structure ordinance; all three properties are in arrears for local taxes, water and sewerage service and also have federal tax liens filed against them.
The township has been trying for years to enforce a nuisance and dangerous structures ordinance against the lots, but legal issues have led to a stalemate.
The group of citizens is asking the board of supervisors to participate in the Act 135 proceedings only as an “interested party.” The board would not be the conservator appointed to the case.
According to summary reviews of the law, Act 135 does not relieve the actual property owner of any liability or obligation with respect to the property, and the property owner may become responsible for debts incurred as a result of the conservatorship.
In July 2021, David Pavlock told the board of supervisors he was trying to buy at least one and maybe all three of the properties. Pavlock said he was advised by an attorney the township could force the properties into judicial tax sale.
Pavlock has not been able to purchase the properties as of October 2022.
The group plans on submitting the names of two or three possible conservators. The court would pick a conservator from that list.
Township supervisors Matt Sherbine, Dave Crise and Chuck Gilbert took no formal action on the matter, but indicated they will support the effort as an interested party when the time comes to file the necessary petitions.
Members of the citizens group this past summer cleaned the brush, overgrown grass and debris from the properties.
“Thank you for everything you’ve done so far,” Sherbine told the group. “We’ve been working on this since I’ve been on the board of supervisors. Those places are an awful black eye.”
Other business
— The board briefly discussed the estimated cost of a new general-purpose truck outfitted with needed equipment. The current estimated price is about $200,000.
— Supervisors approved the purchase of a blower unit at the sewerage plant at a cost of $2,500.
— The board approved the purchase of a wood chipper at a cost of $3,600.
— Supervisors were advised a dangerous structure along Route 36 is scheduled to be torn down in spring.
— The board approved Haven Lane as a name for a new roadway off Gregory Drive.
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