Summit Hill Borough Council on Tuesday again heard complaints from frustrated residents about unkempt properties that potentially harbor rats.

This time, councilman David Wargo had a response for them.

“We are fully intending to bring the full weight of our abilities to clean up these properties,” he said.

Wargo said the borough council has agreed to take aggressive steps against property owners who allow rubbish, debris and weeds to accumulate.

The borough hired former zoning officer Danny Matika to serve as the interim zoning officer. Council members Wargo and Karen Ruzicka opposed the hiring of Matika, as did audience members Marlene Basiago and Marianne Szczecina who interjected their disapproval.

There were three letters of interest received from people seeking the interim zoning officer position, but Matika received the only nomination.

Matika replaces Jason Bell, a police officer who doubled as the zoning officer until his departure from the borough in July. Since then, the borough has been without a zoning officer.

Matika was the zoning officer before Bell. Basiago accused Matika of poor record keeping.

The council said Matika will serve until a new police officer is hired and then trained to double as the zoning officer. The hiring of a police officer is expected to occur next month.

Councilman William O’Gurek Jr. made a motion to retain Matika as an alternate to the new zoning officer but after discussion - and objections by Wargo - it was agreed to wait until a new zoning officer is hired before an alternate is named.

Wargo said that changes will be made to the Quality-of-Life ordinance to allow the borough to clean-up exterior parcels of property. “There is a plan that’s in the works,” he said. First, there must be amendments to the Quality-of-Life ordinance, which must be approved by the solicitor and then advertised.

A request for proposals will then be issued for contractors and exterminators who would, when given the go-ahead by council for cleanup, be accompanied by a police officer to remove trash or address rodent problems.

The property owner would first be cited for the unkempt property. Wargo said the borough would “carpet bomb” the property owners with fines until they reach a specific amount, then the borough would take additional legal steps to do the clean-up work. A judgment would be levied on the property and executed to recoup expenses the borough incurs.

“We will make changes here,” Wargo proclaimed, adding that the concept “has the support of the mayor, police department, colleagues on council and the road crew. It’s been a team effort.”

Basiago asked, “So when we hire somebody, we’ll pay these people and hope to get the money back?”

Wargo said the property owner will not only be responsible for paying for the cleanup but can be assessed a 30 percent administration fee. He said the judgment against the property owner will only be a last resort.

“All these costs will have to be paid by the borough up front,” explained Council President Michael Kokinda.

During the public comment, resident Joan Morana said she spoke with an exterminator who said he feels the rodent problem could be cleaned-up for $35,000 to $50,000. Wargo said he or the council never received such a quote.

The most discussed property was the former Bar-Vel Restaurant on East Ludlow Street, now vacant and reportedly owned by a New York resident, where neighbors claim a rodent problem is occurring.

Barbara Boyd, a neighbor to the Bar-Vel site, said she recently found a dead rat at the bottom of her porch steps. In past meetings she complained about rodents from the vicinity of the vacant building invading her house.

Szczecina presented a copy of a letter that Jim Thorpe borough reportedly sent to borough residents regarding cleaning up their properties, suggesting such a letter might be sent to Summit Hill residents.

Kokinda accepted the letter and said it explains what will attract rats and how to remediate the problem.

He said, “Personally, I don’t have a problem with writing a similar letter.”