Emilia Teasdale is reporting for The Columbia Paper Kinderhook Village Code Enforcement Officer Glenn Smith has asked the village board to consider adopting a “zombie property” ordinance. Smith said the ordinance would help the village to impose maintenance plans and inspections for vacant or abandoned, or so-called zombie properties. “It’s been kind of a problem in the Village of Kinderhook,” Smith at the March 14 village board meeting. Smith said the village needs to pass the ordinance to become part of the state registry of vacant and abandoned properties. If the village passes the ordinance, village code enforcement can inspect the properties, request a maintenance plan from the mortgage holder and charge a $100 fee. Being a part of the registry will be a significant help, Smith said. “This is going to make it a lot easier,” he said, to find out who owns an abandoned or vacant property. He said that now it’s “next to impossible to find the owner who is responsible.” Smith has also proposed the towns of Austerlitz and Stuyvesant adopt the same law. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.