POTTSVILLE -- City officials in Pottsville are working with a resident who says her neighborhood is going downhill with dilapidated properties.
Ann Zunic has lived on Howard Street in Pottsville all her life. She showed us one of the vacant, open homes near her house. Zunic says it's been this way for more than 10 years.
"If we ever go to sell our home, it's not going to be worth anything. Who would want to live in a neighborhood like this?"
City officials say their hands are tied for the moment in tearing down the place.
"It's a bankruptcy property and we can't do much with it. Until it's discharged from bankruptcy, we can't go after the property owner," said city administrator Tom Palamar.
But what has Ann Zunic steamed is a rental property next door to her house. When we visited, there was trash and animal waste all over the porch, just a few feet from her yard.
"There was a garbage bag a few weeks ago and the dogs came out and ripped it open and it laid there with all the dog manure and nothing was picked up," she said.
City officials say they've been doing what they can. They've sent letters and citations to the owner and tenant telling them to clean up.
"It makes me sick, it makes me sick. I just can't stand it, you know?" Zunic added.
No one came to the door at the tenant's house and calls to the landlord went unanswered.
Zunic hopes someday between her efforts and city hall, her neighborhood will be something she's proud of again.