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Raw sewage pouring into the basement "for at least a few months."
That's what Renovo Mayor Gene Bruno said at a recent council meeting about a dilapidated house in Renovo.
He also mentioned in a story in The Express that a wall of the same home was dangerously leaning toward an alley.
The house was deemed uninhabitable.
The renters were required to move out.
It's unimaginable that those renters weren't aware of and didn't smell the raw sewage in the basement.
You've got to be kidding.
Disgusting.
The building was borded up, but get this, Bruno and Code Enforcement Officer Roger Hoy had to go back to the property because yet another set of renters were attempting to move in.
What of the landlord?
We point this rather extreme situation out because blight is a problem in our area, in many communities across our region and nation.
Renovo has been dealing with it for years as people move out, properties are left vacant and owners are no where to be found.
Local governments have the monumental task of preventing blight through code enforcement.
That's made all the more challenging by absentee landlords. Local taxpayers are left with the costs -- and the eyesores and hazards that come with neglected homes and buildings.
We figure Renovo has had the most repository properties in the county in recent years.
Repository properties are typically blighted properties that have been through both tax sales (upset sale and judicial sale) that did not sell and are available for bid.
Again, absentee owner, blight and neglect.
We urge local government officials and residents to be on the look out for blight and neglect.
It is a scourge of communities that, if left unchecked, can be a detriment to the health, safety and economic vitality of our area.