A junk-filled property has drawn the attention of Jim Thorpe Borough Council.

The governing body passed a motion Thursday night instructing its solicitor, James Nanovic, to file a lawsuit against the property owner at 204 Center Avenue ordering the residence to be cleaned up or face a lien.Nanovic did a walk-through on the property with Jim Thorpe code officials and confirmed there are issues in addition to the junk that need to be corrected."From the outside, it appeared there were some holes in the roof and there was a blue tarp with standing water on it in one of the bedrooms," he told council. "If the property owner fails to clean it up, the borough can bring in dumpsters, make the improvements and place a lien on the property. There is no heavy structural damage right now, but over time there will be."The house is vacant, but council said it didn't want to let things go due to the close proximity of neighboring residences."It's clear to me the owner doesn't care about what we care about and that is the life of the family that lives on the other side of the home," Councilman Jay Miller said. "We're doing this for the protection of that family."Borough Manager Maureen Sterner said there is no current estimate on the cost for the borough to clean up the property.If it comes to that, Miller said, the borough would have to find the funds as it would currently be an unbudgeted expense.Water has already been shut off at the residence."It's a condensed neighborhood and there is a heavy fireload inside the building," Council President Greg Strubinger said. "Any kind of fire would have a real good head start and that's something we want to get out in front of."