A year after three local municipalities received a combined $300,000 in state funding to address blighted properties, one of Jim Thorpe’s biggest eyesores remains standing.

The borough has long acknowledged the need to knock down 204 Center Ave., which former councilman Jay Miller once called “a dog’s breakfast.”

But Jim Thorpe remains deadlocked in negotiations with Judy Williams, owner of the other half of the duplex at 206 Center Ave., over who will foot the bill for post-demolition remediation.

Currently, no apparent footer or foundation walls exist between 204 and 206 Center Ave., and the main electrical panel of 206 Center Ave. is mounted to wood framing of the dividing wall.

More money needed

Barry Isett and Associates, the borough’s engineering firm, estimated the cost of remediation to Williams’ home is a minimum of $55,000. The work includes construction of a masonry foundation wall, relocation of the main electrical panel, installation of temporary shoring and other checklist items.

“We don’t have $55,000, and at my age, I can’t go to a bank and borrow it,” the 71-year-old Williams said. “My son lives in the house with his wife, their two teenage children and they just had a new baby. The borough told us if nothing progresses, they’ll look at condemning their home, so where are they going to go?”

The house at 206 Center Ave., Williams said, has been in her family for multiple generations. When Williams’ mother died, she bought out her sister because her son wanted to live there.

“He did a lot of work on it,” Williams said. “All of the eaves were stripped out and he put on a new roof. About 11 years ago, he asked the owners of 204 at the time if she would go along with him on putting a new roof over both sides, but she didn't have the money at that time. He extended the roof over a little further anyway, so that’s why his side isn’t too bad yet.”

In 2021, Jim Thorpe partnered with Palmerton and Lehighton in applying for and receiving state grant money for blight remediation. According to the grant application, $181,147 was proposed toward the demolition of a Lehighton property, Palmerton duplex structure and Jim Thorpe’s 204 Center Ave. The Palmerton and Lehighton structures have since been demolished. The grant also called for $118,853 to be used on any of five other properties in Jim Thorpe listed for reconstruction/rehabilitation.

“We can’t pull any funds from other projects because those have already been started,” Jim Thorpe Borough Manager Maureen Sterner said last week. “So where we’re at right now is the owners of 206 Center Ave. were going to check into a possible grant or low-interest loan. We also asked them if they had some thoughts of a different way that it could be demolished that could be less expensive. We asked them to put their plan in writing so that we can present it to our engineers and lawyer.”

Williams, however, doesn’t think that responsibility should fall in her family’s lap.

“We didn’t do anything wrong,” she said. “The borough says it doesn’t want to take more money from the taxpayers, but I don’t think taxpayers would care. We worked hard and we pay taxes all our lives, but now we’re stuck. My son is a wreck.”

Project snagged

Borough officials said they don’t want to put the demolition of 204 Center Ave. out to bid, a costly process in itself, without knowing if the whole project, including the remediation of 206 Center Ave., can be funded.

For years, the borough has unsuccessfully tried to track down the owners of 204 Center Ave., listed as Emma & James Owen Real Estate LLC.

“The current property owners are using that address as their address so we don’t have any idea who they are because the previous owner didn’t report the sale to us,” Sterner said in a meeting last year.

Williams sought legal representation from Worth, Magee and Fisher Law Offices, which urged the borough to use its own funds for demolition of 204 Center Ave. and remediation of 206 Center Ave.

Williams can’t and won’t contribute for many reasons,” attorney Marc Fisher wrote in a letter to the borough. “She is an innocent party to this situation. If anything, she could be criticized for not complaining enough to the borough. She does not have the resources to contribute to the project. Costs for the project have increased due to inaction by the borough over the years despite knowing the condition of the property.”

Several years ago, the borough paid over $5,000 for a company to clean up the 204 Center Ave. property, which was done for fire safety reasons. There have also been roofing and other zoning violations at the site.

Williams said it wasn’t enough to keep the problem at bay.

“(The borough) didn’t put a tarp on the roof or anything,” she said. “It is so dry rotted over there, you have to be afraid of it catching on fire. If the roof caves in and pulls the floors down, my family is going to die.”

Sterner said the borough will wait to hear from Williams on any ideas for a more cost-effective way to do the demolition work that would lessen the remediation necessary at 206 Center Ave.

“If we get those plans,” she said, “we can check to ensure we’re legally able to do it that way and that it would not put any additional liability on the borough.”