Sen. David Argall, R-29, will tell you that the revitalization of the Tamaqua Train Station took state grant money to become a reality, but more than that, it took the effort of volunteers and elected officials.

Fighting blight, whether it’s large buildings or in neighborhoods, takes collaboration from all three, Argall told a group of Panther Valley residents Thursday night.“If too many people sit back and say ‘let somebody else do it,’ your community is not going to move ahead,” he said.Argall joined state Reps. Doyle Heffley and Jerry Knowles at a forum on blight hosted by Step-Up Carbon/Tamaqua.The officials said that blighted properties and the decay of once proud neighborhoods is something that they do not take lightly.“My heart really goes out to people who have spent their life in half a double, or a row, and put their lives into their properties, then they have to deal with someone who does not take care of their property,” Knowles said.Knowles talked about the importance of a code enforcement officer.Lansford borough officials in attendance say they have one, but his workload is heavy.Argall talked about some of what Harrisburg has done. They shortened the time that towns must wait before citing a new owner of a blighted property from 18 to 12 months.If a property owner continually refuses to maintain his or her property, municipalities can freeze the owner’s bank accounts just like the IRS, if approved by a judge.If a property owner from out of state won’t fix violations, they can now be extradited, Argall said.“I want to encourage all of you not to give up. This is a long and frustrating battle,” he said.Step-Up’s Todd Zimmerman asked the officials how the Carbon/Tamaqua area can attract residents who may work in Hazleton or the Lehigh Valley.Heffley said that the success of Jim Thorpe as a tourist attraction has to be looked at as an example for how other small towns can be revitalized.He would like to see visitors to Jim Thorpe also take the trip over to the No. 9 Mine Museum in Lansford.“We can continue to work on blight, but in order to get rid of those blighted buildings we need people to move into them. To get people to move into them, we need opportunities in the community,” Heffley said.