EVANS CITY — The code enforcement officer hired by borough council has been busy catching up on code violations.

Richard Mannas said he sends out about 32 letters per week notifying residents of the code violations on their properties.

But before sending the letters, Mannas drove and walked the borough looking for violations and completing the lengthy paperwork for each. He was surprised at the quick response of home and business owners regarding his letters advising them of a violation.

“The people of Evans City are very easy to work with,” Mannas said. “In other boroughs, you fight people tooth and nail.”

He said most letters contain violations of the property maintenance ordinance.

He said if he receives no response or the violations are not fixed, another letter is sent telling the property owner of the time frame they have to fix their violation.

If there still is no response, another letter lets the owner know when the borough will file a citation with the district judge. They also are told that a fine could be assessed for each day the violation occurs.

“It could get hefty,” Mannas said.

If the property owner still refuses to reply or bring his property up to code, the district judge handles the situation from that point.

Mannas puts violations that present safety issues at the top of his list. Those often include heaved sidewalks that pose a tripping hazard and buildings that are about to collapse.

He said two properties have been deemed blighted buildings, and others could be designated blighted if repairs are not made.

“There are four others we are working on,” said Mannas of Penn Township.

The part-time borough employee said he has been busy because Evans City did not have a code enforcement officer for a few years before his being hired.

“I have more hours than I would in a borough of this size because I’ve been catching up,” Mannas said.

He also has done work for Mars, and is in talks with another borough that is looking for code enforcement officer services.