Pennsylvania Statutes Title 16 P.S. Counties § 11854. Secretary of Agriculture; assistance to commission; powers of commission; cost of abatement

(a) The Secretary of Agriculture of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is hereby authorized and empowered to cooperate with and assist each mosquito extermination commission in the effective carrying out of its plans and work. He shall be a member ex-officio of each such commission and may authorize a deputy to attend its meetings as his representative. He and his said deputy shall serve without compensation, except that the necessary expenses actually incurred by them in the attendance at meetings of said commissions shall be allowed and paid by the Commonwealth, as a part of the expenses of the Department of Agriculture. He shall furnish the said commissions with such surveys, maps, information and advice as they may require for the prosecution of their work, or as in his opinion will be of advantage in connection therewith.

(b) The mosquito extermination commission, acting as an agency of the county under the authority of the county commissioners, shall have power to eliminate all breeding places of mosquitoes, on private or public property, within the county for which such commission is appointed, and to do and perform all acts, including entry upon private or public property, and to carry out all plans which, in the opinion and judgment of such commission, may be necessary or proper for the elimination of breeding places of mosquitoes, or which will tend to exterminate mosquitoes within said county.

(c) Any water, in which mosquito larvae breed, is hereby declared a public nuisance and subject to abatement as such. Whenever any such breeding place exists on any lands in the county other than meadow or marsh lands subject to the ebb and flow of the tide, which breeding place should, in the opinion of the mosquito extermination commission, be abated the commission shall, in writing, order the owner or owners of such lands to abate the same within a reasonable period, and in a manner, to be specified in such order. If, at the expiration of such period, such order has not been complied with, or if the owner or owners of such lands cannot be ascertained or found, the commission shall, at once, abate said nuisance and may assess all or part of the cost of such abatement against the lands on which such breeding place exists. The commission may file municipal liens for said assessments within the time and in the manner provided by law, the same to be subject in all respects to the general law providing for the filing and recovery of municipal liens.