The additional officer, if approved, would join the fight against an ongoing opiate abuse crisis.

The ordinance, approved 7-1, will require land and building owners to keep their properties up to minimum standards.

Councilors are scheduled to review proposed department budgets that include additional staffing for Lithgow Public Library.

An investigator with the Office of the State Fire Marshal was at the fire scene and was expected to return Tuesday to try to determine a cause of the fire.

Councilor Dale McCormick said Mayor David Rollins calls on himself to speak and offers ‘a counterpoint on almost every point a councilor makes.’

The resident also cited the risks of forbidding property owners to board up windows in unoccupied houses.