West Penn Township officials remain in favor of updating the township's property maintenance code.

Supervisor Tony Prudenti reiterated that he was the one who pushed for the International Property Maintenance Code after receiving multiple complaints over property issues."The reason that we are looking at this is for us to try to speed up cleaning the township," Prudenti said. "It's something to give us more teeth to get things cleaned up in a timely manner."However, Supervisor Ted Bogosh, who wasn't in favor of the code, questioned how it would expedite the process."I fail to see how it's going to make it faster," Bogosh said.Last month, the township's board of supervisors reviewed the code with township engineer Bill Anders.Supervisors' Chairman Jim Dean previously said the township's current ordinance was put into play in 1997, and that while it has its good points, it needs to be improved.Anders said he and board solicitor Holly Heintzelman reviewed a modified version of the code line by line.The new version would change the word "shall" to the word "may," and would change the offense from a summary to a criminal charge, Anders said.Anders said the code would help support and bring some clarity to its current ordinance, and that he believes the changes are adequate and satisfy all the concerns of township residents.Bogosh, who had recently served on the planning commission, said the code was considered by the township's planning commission, and members either rejected it or selected various portions of it.Anders recommended adopting the code, saying it helps keep blight out of communities.Anders said the code is a way for the township to be proactive, and that his experience with it has been successful.