A Carbon County judge ruled earlier this month that Jim Thorpe borough is responsible for the maintenance of the High Street steps, which have been a fixture of the community since the late 19th century.

Ownership of the steps connecting West Broadway and High Street was called into question following a slip-and-fall insurance claim in 2017. The claim prompted a land survey commissioned by Jim Thorpe’s council that showed the steps cross three property lines including that of the borough, Three Towers Apartments owner Tom Loughery at 49 W. Broadway, and an LLC at 61 W. Broadway, which is now a short-term rental.

Loughery closed off the steps and, in 2019, initiated legal proceedings, seeking a declaratory judgment that would either force the borough to maintain the steps or remove them from their property.

During a May 2023 hearing in front of Common Pleas Judge Joseph Matika, Loughery said from the time he purchased his property in 2004, he believed the borough owned all of the roughly 100-foot-long set of steps.

“I still believe that today,” Loughery told Matika. “There is no reason to believe that we owned them.”

In his decision, Matika wrote that “while there has been no formal act of acceptance by Jim Thorpe, there is evidence of a long-continued history of public use over the High Street steps. With acceptance having been established in Jim Thorpe, the borough of Jim Thorpe in all respects, has a continuing duty to repair, replace and maintain, financially and otherwise, the High Street steps for ongoing public use as a means to traverse between West Broadway and High Street.”

The borough solicitor filed a post-trial motion Wednesday challenging several aspects of the decision and asking for the decision to be vacated.

“This court erred in finding that the plaintiff met its burden that the borough had maintained all of the stairs,” James Nanovic wrote in the motion. “This court also erred in finding that the maintenance and/or repairs by the borough were sufficient to form the dedication of the High Street steps. It is respectfully submitted that any such maintenance and repairs were minimal over the course of 130-plus years.”

Jeff Thomas, a 25-year borough employee, said during the 2023 hearing that he and other public service employees cleared snow off the steps when the crew had completed plowing streets after storms.

He also testified that he had helped remove a rusted section of railing and jackhammered a 20-square-foot section of concrete at the bottom of the steps in preparation for the replacement of that pad.

Evidence presented in 2023 showed the current Three Towers Apartments, to the east of the steps, was a former school also constructed in 1885. The property at 61 W. Broadway, was a parsonage for a church that was located on that school property before 1885.

“I never questioned the origin of those steps,” Council President Greg Strubinger said. “I was always under the impression they belonged to the school building. When the fall happened, a claim was made to the borough and our insurance company wanted proof of ownership, which is why the survey was done.”

Strubinger said, in his opinion and the property lines shown in the survey, the borough only owned the top part of the steps that are in the High Street right of way.

Andrew Roberts, who lives at 28 W. Broadway, said old newspaper articles include what looks to be proof of the borough spending just over $800 in 1885 for the construction of the steps.

He also testified that articles show the borough approved the painting of railings in 1939 and helped secure $1.1 million in federal grant money, part of which went to the repair of the steps in 1978.

A Community Development Block Grant was also utilized to repair the top portion of the steps within the last decade.

The borough is also challenging the legal implications of the court’s order, the third paragraph of which mandates it to “repair, replace, and maintain” the High Street steps continuously.

“A borough has an obligation to maintain the streets to the extent it deems necessary,” Nanovic wrote. “It is up to the judgment of the borough. This order now creates a separate obligation on the borough. Under the Borough Code, the borough has the right to vacate streets. This order would seemingly eliminate the right to vacate the steps should the borough wish to do so.”