The approval was granted in a 5-1 vote, with Trustee Deborah Macon voting against the ordinance amendments. Treasurer Denise Hammond was absent from the meeting.

Killian said the amendments were prompted by a combination of foreclosures and evictions resulting in people leaving unwanted possessions either on the curb or elsewhere on the properties.

"The thing that prompted it the most was a lot of the foreclosures," said Township Supervisor David Flaisher. "People are leaving their stuff behind and it was hard for us to go in and correct those violations."

The ordinance provides the township a mechanism go onto a property and hire a contractor to clean up the site. The property owner would be responsible for covering those costs.

"It addresses the blight problem and doesn't compromise us financially by allowing us to recoup our losses, as far as the costs that are incurred in cleaning up the messes," Killian said.

In addition, the ordinance allows the township to address West Nile virus concerns by permitting the township to pump out pools which have been left behind following a foreclosure, keeping them free of standing water so they don't create a health hazard for the neighborhood.

"As always, we will notify the people, if we have these types of problems, and seek their cooperation before we take enforcement action," Killian said. "Our goal is always compliance rather than issuing citations."

"Townships have an opportunity to expand their toolbox with a number of proactive interventions that can be applied in a variety of settings," Macon said explaining her vote against the ordinance changes, citing several tools the township could use such as information, training, advocacy, collaboration, mediation, "neighboring," appreciation and civility. "I believe we can expect resident cooperation if we apply positive efforts as opposed to only relying on ordinance development and enforcement, which are always reactive in my opinion."

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