ZELIENOPLE — Borough officials on Monday took another step toward creating a vacant building ordinance, making changes that give the idea more teeth and the borough more ability to promote changes.

Earlier this month, council considered a proposal that, according to borough manager Don Pepe, would aim to force property owners of vacant buildings to either keep property clean or to develop or sell it.

Shelly Kaltenbaugh, the borough’s code enforcement and zoning officer, said the ordinance would allow the borough to contact property owners if a ground-floor space is vacant, hasn’t been maintained and is lacking signage.

The property owner would be given 45 days to address the issues, after which a $500 “monitoring fee” would be imposed. The ordinance would apply only to ground-floor commercial structures.

Kaltenbaugh said inquiries are made to the borough about who to contact for rental or purchase of vacant buildings, and the ordinance would address these issues, she said.

A bill would be sent to the property, with the fee imposed yearly if the issues aren’t addressed. If the fee is not paid, a lien could be imposed on the property. Council voted to advertise the ordinance.

On Monday, Kaltenbaugh said the ordinance had been advertised, but she had given more thought to it since the previous meeting. Specifically, she said a previous discussion about the monitoring fee amount and whether it should increase each year led her to make changes to the proposal.

She told council the new fee would be $250 for the first year, $500 for the second and $1,000 for the third year a property was not in compliance.

“It was something I felt was missing,” she said. “It wasn’t that we wanted to fine people. We want buildings to be promoted, we want to see storefronts occupied.”

She said the proposal and the fee are intended to spur improvement, rental or sale of vacant spaces in the borough. Officials had previously stated there are two or three properties that would be subject to the ordinance.

Kaltenbaugh said beginning Jan. 1, officials would determine what spaces could fall under the ordinance, and the owner will be notified. They also will be given a checklist of what needs to be done with the property, as well as registration forms that list updated phone numbers for those involved with the property.

Changes also outline what the borough could do in the event the fees aren’t paid and no action is taken.

Pepe said because the changes were significant, the ordinance must be advertised once again. However, members of council also raised concerns that the fees weren’t high enough to spur action.

Councilman Doug Foyle said he was worried that a $250 fee would be small enough for some property owners to ignore altogether. He and Councilwoman Mary Hess suggested an escalating fee structure of $500 for the first year, $1,000 for the second and $1,500 for the third.

Council voted to make the change and advertise the ordinance again. It will be considered again at a future meeting.