EMPORIUM — Another blighted property has been demolished in the borough, but this one was completed without the use of any public funding.

Borough Manager Don Reed said the owner of the property at 36 W. Fourth St. demolished the structure at his own expense following a lengthy ordinance violation process that saw the owner fined for the building’s dilapidated condition.

A second derelict property located on West Fourth Street and owned by the same individual is also likely to be razed due to it being considered beyond repair. The two former apartment buildings served as bookends for the business district, and have detracted from the general beauty of the downtown area for the past several years, borough officials said. Both had been condemned before court proceedings began.

The borough laid out a plan for demolishing the building, requiring that the structure must be demolished and all materials removed, then the lot levelled and seeded.

Prior to demolition, all taxes on the building had to be paid up to date. The property is still owned by the individual, and he may opt to sell or keep the small lot which is located between two residential structures.

Reed said two additional properties owned by the same person have been cleaned up, at least on the exterior, and the borough is pursuing a similar solution for several other blighted properties.

In other news:

• A zoning board hearing has been scheduled to hear testimony concerning a commercial operation on Portage Street which is operating without necessary permit approvals from the borough. Portage Street is zoned residential, meaning a business operator would require a special exception from the zoning board in order to open for business. The permit was denied several months ago due to concerns raised by residents in neighboring properties, but the business opened despite the lack of approval.

The hearing will be held at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, September 20 at the Emporium Borough Building, and will be open to the public.

• Borough officials recently attended a meeting held by the Sinnemahoning Ambulance Service concerning the possibility of the agency ceasing operations as early as this coming spring due to a lack of trained volunteers. The absence of trained individuals willing to serve the ambulance service is not just affecting the Sinnemahoning service, but is also threatening services in Emporium.

“The biggest issue is that municipalities have an obligation to provide services to their residents. They are going to have to get surrounding areas to cover — Sinnemahoning will have to go through Benezette or Renovo; the Route 872 area will have to go with Austin — and they’re not going to do it for free. It’s going to cost them,” council member Randy Frey, who attended the Sinnemahoning meeting, said. “Emporium is taking 60 to 80 percent of the calls down there, then, if we have another unit out, we have to call St. Marys. … We’ve already had a couple of calls down there where there’s been a better-than-an-hour wait. That’s life or death and we need to start thinking of what we can do.”

Council members warned that Sinnemahoning also risks losing its fire department, which is financially tied to the ambulance service, and actually derives most of its revenue from patient transport.

“Right now, a lack of manpower is actually a bigger issue than finances,” said Frey.

• Animal Control Officer George Sowers reminded residents that new animal welfare/humane laws are going into effect. The laws were set at the state level and are aimed at regulating some pet-owner practices deemed inhumane and increases penalties on abuse.

• A group opposed to the proposed ATV trail through Cameron County has requested a meeting with borough officials, to be held on Sept. 25. The borough has spoken with the group working to coordinate a cross-county ATV route previously. Meetings have been held by both the ATV Association and the anti-ATV movement to garner support for their prospective sides.

• The borough recently received notification of this year’s Liquid Fuels Fund allocation, and will receive slightly more than last year. This year, $65,881.66 is expected; last year, fund came in at just under $64,000.

• Approval was given to waive the open container ordinance for two events scheduled in September. The annual St. Mark Festival will be held Friday and Saturday at St. Mark Catholic Church. The annual All-Fired-Up-and-Kickin’-Ash BBQ competition is Sept. 22-23. Organizers for both events already received approval and necessary documents from the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, and were approved by the borough to allow visitors to purchase and consume alcoholic beverages downtown.

• The next meeting of the council is 7 p.m. Oct. 2 at the borough building.