It may take some teeth to get the grass cut at certain locations in Coplay.

At Tuesday's meeting, members of borough council discussed the topic of how to handle property owners who repeatedly don't mow their lawns.

"We should graze on it," quipped Councilman Charles Sodl when Council President Lou Bodish suggested the issue be sent to committee for review.

At last week's workshop, Ron Gollie of 1022 Center St. told council the grass at 1102 Center St. reached a height of 20 inches.

It was finally mowed June 3.

"Surely as the sun rises in the east, it's not going to be cut again for another five or six weeks," Gollie said.

Building Code Official Ron Helman said enforcing the ordinance requires sending letters and giving the property owner 30 days to comply before sending the case to the magistrate.

Gollie asked why something couldn't be done to rectify the situation more quickly.

"For about 10 years it's been the same thing," he said. "It's like a yo-yo."

One option, Helman said, would be to have public works employees mow the lawn in question and bill the homeowner.

However, such bills are rarely paid and public works has other duties, Bodish and Sodl said.

"What are we doing about this if these people are repeat offenders?" Sodl asked Tuesday night, repeating what he said at last week's meeting. "Do we have anything in place to be a little more stern?"

Helman had said the borough may need to change its ordinance.

"We should put some teeth into it and get it fixed," Sodl said.

Sold said Tuesday 1102 Center St. is not the only property about which the borough receives repeated complaints.

The present system of handling the repeat offenders is like telling a child to stop misbehaving without attaching any consequences, he said.

"If they keep doing it, they should be able to say, 'You aren't waiting 30 days. You got to cut it in a week,' or whatever," said Bodish.

"I just think there should be something else we can do just out of respect for everybody else," Sodl said.