Metro

In a blighted property hearing Thursday, the Logan Township supervisors gave a Sandy Run Road homeowner until the end of October to get her property in decent shape, after she detailed struggles she’s had cleaning it up and fixing it.

Dawna Backmeier was found guilty of violating three similar code citations since obtaining the property from the Blair County repository in 2022, and although she has paid fines, she’s made few if any improvements, according to township Planning Director Cassandra Schmick, who questioned Backmeier during the hearing.

The township would have the option of filing misdemeanor code charges, based on the repeated citations, but instead encouraged Backmeier to pursue help from a local church that she’s been in contact with, while also requiring her to provide progress reports during her four-month reprieve — after which, if things remain problematic, further prosecution will be warranted, according to the supervisors.

Schmick showed pictures of the property, with junk and trash in the yard and the house in disrepair.

This year, Backmeier hired someone to clean up the property, but that person quit after realizing the job was bigger than he’d bargained for, according to information at the hearing.

Backmeier has health issues that limit what she can do herself, she said.

Her brother was helping her, but got hurt, she said.

Her phone service has been suspended, further complicating her situation, she said.

Neighbors have complained numerous times, including one who lives next door and who has had difficulties selling her property — difficulties she attributes to the blight at Backmeier’s property, according to Schmick.

Supervisor Ed Frontino questioned Backmeier.

“Not to be mean or rude, but why if you say (it will be better) in a few months, should we believe you, given your record?” he asked.

“I am definitely focused on trying to get it looking better,” Backmeier said.

“I’m not trying to pick on you, but it’s been four years,” Frontino said.

Although Backmeier bought the property out of the county repository, which generally ensures that there are no liens, the property has a sewer lien, which remained attached because the township wasn’t properly served notice of the repository sale, according to township solicitor Dan Stants.

The sewer bill is now $6,000 — including unpaid amounts that have accrued since Backmeier’s 2022 purchase.

The supervisors are unlikely to forgive that bill because it would set a bad precedent, according to Chairman Jim Patterson.

“Good luck to you,” Patterson told Backmeier. “Reach out to the church or your friends or try to sell it.”

The hearing was conducted according to a procedure outlined in the township code.

The procedure calls for code officials or police to investigate dangerous or seriously blighted structures, then report on them to the supervisors, who should give notice to the owner, then hold a hearing, with testimony on the property’s condition from the code official and from the owner, after which the supervisors should file a report and issue an order that can call for the building to be vacated and repaired or razed.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.