PORTAGE - Portage Borough officials are weighing their options after a building was deemed unsafe, as it's currently without water, sewage or heating.
The home, with a family of three living inside, is located on Railroad Avenue.
A reporter asked an occupant who lives inside, "Do you have water or sewage in there?"
"Only thing is, I got to go through a friend that has to dig up the sewer line and get the water turned on," said Robert Guant, an occupant.
Inside the home is Guant, his wife and stepson.
"How do you live with that? How do you live without water? Period," said a concerned neighbor.
Portage Water Authority Superintendent Ron Cadwallader said the prior owners of the building bought it for taxes and turned the water off.
Cadwallader said the water authority works hand-in-hand with the sewer and said the building hasn't had sewage in a "long, long time."
Officials with the Records of Deeds department in Ebensburg confirmed Berniece Guant signed a deed for the building on Nov. 2, 2015.
Neighbors who didn't want to go on camera, but said the situation is uncalled for.
"We had a nice neighborhood at one time until this moved in. There's no reason anyone should live like that. Why they live like that, I don't know," the neighbor said.
The neighbor said that rats are also becoming a problem in the neighborhood because of garbage piled up outside the building.
"We've taken care of their garbage," the neighbor said.
The borough manager, Bob Koban, said the borough engineer recently deemed the property as unsafe because of concerns that it could catch on fire or cause danger to residents living nearby.
"I'd really like to see the building come down. It has to come down or someone is going to get hurt. Somebody is going to get hurt," the neighbor said.
Koban said if Guant corrects the issues found, council will stop pursuing the eviction.
Guant said that's not a problem.
"I'll comply with whatever needs to be done," Guant said, "Like I said, the structure itself is sound. It's not collapsing or anything. It just needs a little TLC."
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