During the winter months, the City of Meadville’s property maintenance inspectors aren’t just on the hunt for snow-covered sidewalks, even though that does tend to fill large sections of their days.

“Junk. Refuse. Snow piles. Water flowing across walkways and freezing. Snow on steps — especially steps that would have to be used as an emergency exit. Falling retaining walls. People dumping yard clippings and tree branches on empty property. Multiple junk cars on the property. Signs placed on city property. These are all things we’re looking for,” says Nick Cheropovich, the

city’s senior inspector. “Just straight property maintenance.”

And, of course, the sidewalks.

City regulations require that sidewalks be cleared of snow in something of a timely manner. However, when the beginning of January’s nonstop snowfall gave rise to various interpretations of exactly when that had to take place, pedestrians found themselves treading on snow-covered ground.

Rick Williams, the city’s development director, said that serious enforcement of the snow removal regulations is now under way: Warning letters have been going out. “Friendly warning letters,” Cheropovich said. “We’re seeing if there’s a positive response — and so far, so good.”

After a heavy crop of citations issued during the winter of 2009 “ruffled a lot of feathers,” as he put it, a slightly gentler approach is being tried this time around. “I think if people get the hint that the city is serious about wanting the sidewalks clear and safe, especially in the business area, they cooperate,” he said.

When push comes to shove, however, the property maintenance inspectors do have the option of attaching a brightly-colored collection tag to a wayward couch, major appliance or bag of garbage — and sending the homeowner a bill for the pickup.

Cheropovich has been with the city since March 2005, shortly after the 34-year veteran of public education retired from Crawford Central School District as its director of special education. He was the first to fill the part-time position created by the city to deal with an ever-increasing number of eyesores and safety and health concerns.

In September, the city doubled its property maintenance inspection staff by adding a second part-time inspector. Although Cheropovich and Terry Hanes, his new colleague, have divided the city into territories, they’re quick to join forces whenever a task presents special challenges.

According to Tim Groves, the city’s finance director, the motivation behind beefing up the staff wasn’t to add to the number of fines collected. “We’re just looking for compliance,” he said. “I think most of the work Nick and Terry do now is reminders — we don’t want to use the heavy hand.”

Watch for falling trees

One of the responsibilities of a city property maintenance inspector is to keep a watchful eye out for trees that may lose branches or fall in ways that may endanger the public welfare.

“It’s easier to find sick and dead trees, at least for me, in the summer,” Cheropovich cheerfully confessed during a recent interview.

Owners of sick and dead trees, however, are no longer off the hook during the winter months.

Hanes, a lifelong Meadville resident, was a construction electrician for what he describes as “many, many years” before becoming business manager for International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Pittsburgh. “We had a guy we were training to take my place and he lost his job,” Hanes recalled. “I could afford to retire and I was the right age, so I just retired and let him have the job.”

Electrical expertise, however, isn’t the only thing Hanes brought to the job. “Terry can spot a dead tree from 10 miles away — in a blizzard,” Cheropovich says admiringly. “In a white-out. He’s got a real eye for that.”

Hanes agrees. “My pet thing is trees,” he said. “I like trees.”

As Hanes sees the situation, “the trees in Meadville — a lot of them, especially in the older districts — are getting to the point where they’re starting to rot. And they’re big. And they’re dangerous.”

When the leaves are in place, completely dead trees are easy to spot because they don’t have any. However, if a tree’s just got some rotten spots, problem areas can easily be covered by leaves. That’s why Hanes prefers to check them out in the winter. “If a trees in your back yard, we don’t mess with it much,” he said. “We’re more interested in a tree that might fall and hit a pedestrian or a car in the street.”



Contact Meadville’s property maintenance inspectors Nick Cheropovich at 333-3352 or Terry Hanes at 333-3322.



Mary Spicer can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at mspicer@meadvilletribune.com.