At last night's Borough Council meeting, an interdepartmental staff team proposed the adoption of a graffiti removal ordinance.

The regulation would require property owners to remove graffiti from their grounds within 14 calendar days of borough notification. A fine would be issued if owners fail to comply.

"If it's not removed it's an encouragement to others that we don't care," Assistant Borough Council Manager Tom Kurtz said.

The team researched effective ways to deal with vandalism.

"We study what other communities did and found they used more aggressive choices than what we have here," Kurtz said. He cited clean up crews and volunteer efforts within the community as other means of controlling the graffiti.

Most property owners clean up voluntarily, and some feel that the ordinance will force the victim to remove graffiti in an unreasonable time span.

"Fourteen days is ridiculous-- in two weeks we were hit with 3 incidents," Borough Council member and Delta Sigma Pi adviser Tom Daubert said.

Council members could not agree on a set time span for removal.

Police Chief Tom King recommended 7 days for the removal of such unwanted art.

The allotted time for removal would begin when the borough notifies the property owner, unless the owner has already reported the incident.

Daubert said most people don't report graffiti, because offenders usually go unpunished. However, an ordinance such as this could aid police in identifying perpetrators, Kurtz said. "If we solve one, we can sometimes solve 10 or 15," he said. "Identifying patterns is key."

Borough Council member Craig Humphrey said he has been a repeat victim of vandalism.

He said he has taken measures to remove graffiti from his property, but found that inclement weather has hindered his efforts. He pointed out that painting and pressure hosing can only be done in appropriate conditions.

Council President Cathy Dauler assured the public that accommodations could be made for bad weather.

Members within the council said that it is unfair to punish those who have been vandalized. "In some cases it would cost property owners money and if they don't clean up we will fine them on top of it--this strikes me as jumping on the victim," Ron Filippelli said.

Council member Jeff Kern believes that graffiti is not a significant problem within the State College area.

"I spend a lot of time in town, and I don't see a lot of graffiti," he said. "It's like we're trying to pass an ordinance here in search of a problem, and I don't see a problem."

The proposal will be discussed further at Monday's work session.