Linesville councilman Ron Vennare, who offered a motion to adopt the International Property Maintenance Code when council met April 13 that’s the code that tells property owners/occupants that you must have 70 square feet of floor area in a bedroom occupied by one person and every bedroom occupied by more than one person shall have at least 50 square feet of floor area for each occupant saw his motion for approval of the code die for a lack of a second.

Vennare, as discussion went on about whether the code should be adopted without further changes which was being proposed by Kevin McGrath, said he saw gutters down in the borough because people didn’t have the common sense to go open [second floor] windows] and knock the snow off their roofs [which would have prevented the gutters from coming down it seems].

Resident, Steve Mickle, owner of a house in the borough along with the trailer court off Stratton Avenue, took exception to the remark noting he had a gutter come down and that didn’t mean he didn’t have common sense.

McGrath said he had a number of people comment on the proposed code [not many happy with it] and suggested it needed looked at further especially in light of wording that would allow the code official to have the authority as necessary to adopt rules and procedures; to interpret and implement the provisions of the code. He thought council needed to be more involved in the process.

Vennare and council president Pete Fizer urged going forward with t he code, with Vennare saying, no [to delay] go forward, get rid of the junk and upgrade the community.

Discussion revolved around the enforcement of the code, if adopted, with Fizer saying it would deal with mostly outside complaints. McGrath disagreed and said if someone complains it has to be looked into, it has to be enforced.

The code covers all existing residential and nonresidential structures and all existing premises.

Mickle raised a question on ceiling heights with Fizer saying nobody would be coming in and measuring, it is just a scare tactic.

The code calls for a minimum height of ceilings to be 7 feet with a couple exceptions for basement rooms yet that to be 6’8’’ with not less than 6’4’’ of clean height under beams, girders, ducts and other obstructions.

Councilwoman Sue Lewandowski suggested excluding current homes under the proposed code.

As noted the motion by Vennare to adopt the code died for a lack of a second as Ron Harper, Sharon Kobel, Lewandowski and McGrath declined to do so; Fizer, as president, could not do so and Tom McGrath was absent.

Council then decided to meet in work session on Tuesday, April 27, to further discuss the code which would need to be advertised again before adoption.