Pottstown Codes Deptartment Gets Reprimanded By State

Location of Pottstown in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  This made the Mercury’s 2012 Top Stories list…always good to keep the shenanigans in Pottstown on our minds!  Be vigilant!

POTTSTOWN, PA — The state agency which oversees code and inspection functions in Pennsylvania has issued a “formal warning” to the Pottstown Codes office for a number of violations, including allowing inspections to be conducted by personnel not certified to perform those inspections.

In a letter issued Oct. 2, the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry informed the codes office manager, Maria E. Bleile, of the results of its complaint investigation.

The letter outlines eight complaints regarding inspections at both commercial and residential properties, ranging from Pottstown Memorial Hospital, to the Salvation Army to four residential properties.

Issues ranged from inspectors conducting “plan reviews” and inspections without the proper certification; to no records of reviews or certain inspections being conducted at all; to missing dates in inspection reports.

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20121224/NEWS01/121229767/pottstown-codes-dept-gets-reprimanded-by-state

Reading City Council Gets Tough On Blight!

City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a new version of the pre-sale inspection ordinance that it repealed in 2006, requiring all properties to get checked for code compliance when they’re on the market.

The ordinance mandates that property owners get a certificate of transfer for all properties – residential or commercial – sold after April 1, 2012.

To get the certificate, the owners will have to pay $150 for the health and safety inspection, and pass it. However, the inspection will be scaled down from the full-blown inspection required under the earlier program that cost $300.

It’s also far less than the higher costs in a new fee schedule for other inspections that council adopted Tuesday. For instance, a regular inspection of a single-family home will cost $505, up from $240.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=355261