An eleventh hour attempt to save a severely dilapidated property in Tamaqua may not be enough. The home at 525 North Railroad St. was severely damaged by fire several years ago. The property was eventually sold at a tax sale to Street Stage Inc. According to council president, Micah Gursky, the borough protested the sale to the county, however, it still went through. Since the fire, the property has been sliding into disrepair.

The property has become an eyesore and a nuisance to the neighbors, who have attended several borough meetings to complain about it. The borough has tried several times to contact the owners of the property and has issued multiple citations regarding the conditions of the property, however, after the letters were returned unopened, the borough voted to proceed with litigation and ultimately demolish the property. They awarded a bid for demolition to Northeast Industrial Services in the amount of $8,400 last month.Tuesday night, Attorney Kim Roberti of Jim Thorpe and Robert Horsford appeared before council to ask that the property not be demolished and outlined an aggressive plan to secure the property and begin to make repairs. Roberti represents the owner of the property, Rolando Horsford, of Lansford, who is the sole share holder in Street Stage, Inc. Robert Horsford is the brother of Rolando, who is currently serving two to five years in the State prison for delivery of a controlled substance from August to September 2009.Council remained skeptical that Horsford would move forward with the property. "This council met with Mr. Horsford (Rolando) in 2009 and asked his intentions," said Gursky. "The intentions then were to fix it up. Since that time, Mr. Horsford has been arrested for dealing cocaine. The only shareholder is in jail. How are you going to fix it up? Frankly, you don't own it. Can you take ownership?" he asked Robert Horseford. "I believe I could," said Horsford, who is currently a resident of New York City."We've been listening to complaints for four years," said Councilman Brian Connely. "It's been sitting there, nothing's been done I haven't seen anything in four years. I can't say anything is going to change."Robert Horsford explained that he has plans to have all of the windows in the building repaired and functional within the next four weeks. Additionally, he has immediate plans to repair a hole in the roof and install an alarm system to keep vandals from further damaging the property. "We would like to get the property into a condition that it's healthy and on the tax roll," he said. Ultimately, he expressed hope that the property could be rentable by the spring.Councilman David Mace asked where the rest of the plan was for bringing the property back up to living standards. Connely asked Horsford how much he intended to invest in the project. Horsford said that he doesn't have a clear picture yet of what will be involved. Connely asked for a ballpark figure. Horsford responded, "$15,000-$20,000." Connely expressed disbelief. "There would be $10,000 into the roof alone," he said.Council remained unconvinced. "I have no problem continuing (with the demolition)," said Gursky. "Street Stage is inactive. The sole owner is in jail and has no intention of doing anything with the property. They haven't done anything with it since 2009. Now, only when we're at the point of demolishing it, do they come here. You're not even the property owners. There is no assurance that you will follow through with this.""If we don't meet those time lines, absolutely, tear it down," said Horsford.Council adjourned for an executive session to discuss litigation.When they came back there were no additional motions made, so last month's motion to proceed with the demolition still stands.