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A pair of Tipton residents expressed gratitude to Antis Township leaders recently for helping take care of a codes problem in their neighborhood.
One had reproached the supervisors at a meeting in August for not doing nearly enough to enforce maintenance regulations on three properties at the end of Kingdom Street, where there had been vehicles, equipment and other items left outside.
"Thank you very much for your stick-to-itiveness," said Randy Rydbom, echoing Darren Tornatore, who first complimented the supervisors for their "diligence" in taking care of the issue.
The pressure from the neighbors was crucial, according to Rydbom.
Previously, township officials had been giving the family that owned the properties "the benefit of the doubt," Rydom said.
But the threat of a lawsuit from the neighbors about the longstanding issues, coupled with pictures that showed the properties continued to be problematic "forced their hand," Rydbom said of the supervisors and the township staff.
Accordingly, Antis officials visited the properties after the August meeting, then attended a magisterial district judge's hearing, at which the judge imposed a fine but told the main property owner that a prompt cleanup would lead to a reduction of that fine, Rydbom said.
Subsequently, the properties are looking "98 percent better," Rydbom said.
A walk-through with township officials at the end of last week generated a punch list that could lead to final improvements, Rydbom said.
"It's nothing personal" against the property owner, Rydbom said.
"I think he likes to collect things and it got out of hand," Rydbom stated.
Tornatore singled out Supervisor Brian Kustaborder.
"I saw him dozens of times" at the problem properties, working toward "a solution," Tornatore said.
Getting the properties cleaned up took cooperation from the supervisors, the staff, the solicitor and the neighbors, Kustaborder said.
Those Tipton properties aren't the only ones in Antis that need code attention, said Supervisors Chairman Bob Smith.
"We're moving in that direction as well," Smith said.