Codes Enforcement Department Head.
He has been with the Borough since December 2001. Greg's responsibilities include managing the department, zoning, planning, property maintenance, and rental inspections. Greg has served as the Berwick Fire Chief in the past.
Nick Kalanick
Codes Enforcement Officer.
He has been with the Borough since April 2007, but comes with many years of Codes Enforcement and Building Inspector experience. He is the BCO (Building Code Official) as well as the Plan Review Administrator. Nick also deals with zoning and planning in the borough, as well as a variety of specialty projects, such as serving as project manager for projects such as the Bowers Lane Bridge, the new municipal building, and has worked on a variety of other projects that have saved the borough thousands of dollars.
Andrew Holter
Codes Enforcement Officer.
He has been with the Borough since April 2007. Andrew is also the Borough's Recycling Director and Certified Fire Inspector. Andrew recently received an Associates Degree in Fire Science from Luzerne County Community College. Andrew works in property maintenance, rental inspections, and serves as the Borough's Fire Inspector. Andrew is currently pursuing his national paramedic certification.
Planning Commission
The 2008 Planning Commission, as seen in the photo, consists of 5 members. Pictured in the front row are Charles Ligosh, Bette Grey, and Casper Plish. Pictured in the back row are Russ Grebe, Guy Campbell, and Codes Enforcement Officer Nick Kalanick.
Zoning Hearing Board
The Zoning Hearing Board hears all appeals of zoning decisions made by the Codes Department. A Zoning Hearing is an official hearing which includes both attornies and a court stenographer. The Berwick Borough Zoning Hearing Board consists of 5 members and 1 alternate at the present time. As pictured, in the front row from left to right, Zoning Hearing Board Solicitor Brenda Hess, alternate member Scott Bower, and Bobby Maiers. From left to right in the back row: Tom Metz, Gene Golla, and Benjamin Mike. Missing from the photo is A.D. George.
Borough Manager Speaks on Gang Panel
Panelists tell residents how to drive out hoods
By Rick Dandes The Daily Item
September 30, 2009 07:35 am
— SELINSGROVE — Organized gang activity is on the rise in every corner of Snyder County, but there are things that landlords, ordinary citizens and local government officials can do to prevent and even drive these criminals out of their towns, said panelists at a Gang Awareness Community meeting Tuesday night at the Selinsgrove Middle School. “I believe in taking preventative measures,” said Snyder County District Attorney Michael H. Sholley, one of four panelists. “It’s drug activity that draws them here. The price of drugs sold on the street in this area is higher than in cities. But drug activity also leads to robberies, stabbings and killings.”
It’s time to organize Sholley told a crowd of more than 150 people to take action now, organize into community groups and work with law enforcement. “Do that and we can deal with this problem before things get worse. And they will, if we do nothing. Understand: this is a community problem, not just a law enforcement problem.” Another panelist, Sunbury Police Chief Steve Mazzeo, said he wasn’t there to scare people into action. “That’s not my purpose, although I could tell you things that might frighten everyone,” he said. He said that he had come from the Lehigh Valley, where police lost control of the situation because they treated young gang criminals as if they were kids on a street corner.
Organized crime “But this is organized crime, pure and simple,” Mazzeo said, “and they must be confronted that way. Gang members will continue to move into the area unless we stop them. But they can be beaten. Being aware of them is a big first step.”
Also on the panel was Noel Jones, of Northumberland County Human Services, and Berwick borough manager Shane Pepe.
Jones explained the psychology of gang members and their associates. “They’re smart. They’re tech savvy, and they’re very good at hiding from the police,” Jones said.
Recruitment into gangs goes on all the time, he added. Watch for the child in a school yard who is a loner or whom others pick on.
“They are prime recruits,” Jones said. “They are looking for someone who cares about them. That’s when gangs move in. What prevents all this is knowing your kids. Talking to them.”
Pepe was on hand to explain how Berwick dealt with its crime problem. “In Berwick, a lot of the crimes were being committed by people who lived in rentals. So we passed an ordinance in 2007 that makes landlords responsible for the behavior of their tenants.”
Pepe said that landlords have to notify municipal officials of lease violations and then evict multiple violators; if they don’t, they could lose their own license.
“A lot of landlords didn’t like the ordinance,” Pepe said, “but it worked and we’re getting rid of the criminal element in town. The ordinance, I’m convinced, has brought out a new pride in community. People are taking better care of their homes.”
At least one Valley community has taken up the Berwick model and is reporting success. After the meeting, John Bickhart, Selinsgrove borough manager, explained that Selinsgrove has a landlord ordinance.
“The ordinance was intended to draw landlords into the issues of their tenants and to make them responsible for the behavior and activity of tenants,” Bickhart said. “They are required to get engaged. We’ve probably had one full year of it being enforced, and I think it has significantly reduced the problems that the borough had with tenants in the borough of Selinsgrove.
“The ordinance requires that if there are three violations of behavior, the landlord can be compelled to break the lease. We require that the lease contain language that would allow the landlord to notify the tenant that they are in violation of the lease and have them removed from the property.”
“What we did in the borough was to simply raise expectations of how we expect tenants to deal with landlords and vice versa. It really turned out to be a very beneficial program all the way around. And it has been identified as one of the steps in helping to control the gang violence problem.” Sholley agreed with Pepe and Bickhart.
“If they don’t have a place to live, they’re not here,” he said. “The key is communication. Citizens, landlords and law enforcement have to work together to rid us of this problem. It’s a challenge, but we can do it.”
The night was co-sponsored by the Snyder County’s District Attorney’s Office and the Greater Susquehanna Valley United Way.
Snyder County District Attorney Michael H. Sholley urges members of the audience at the Selinsgrove Middle School on Wednesday night to join the fight against street gangs.
