HONESDALE, PA — You could hear a pin drop during testimony at the May 9 Honesdale Borough Council meeting about a problem so universal that almost everyone has experienced it: bad neighbors.

Speaking during the public comment segment, Kathy Rutledge told the council how loitering, noise, littering, foul language, unsupervised teenagers at play and deliberate, prolonged revving of truck engines late at night were diminishing the quality of her elderly mother’s life.

Rutledge started by telling the council how her mother had spent two years on a waiting list for admission to the Stourbridge Square Senior Residence. And how, when admission finally came, the family was relieved to know their mother would be living in a clean, safe place with the kind of care she needed. And that 18 months later, their mother is being victimized by residents of two houses on 11th Street, opposite her residence.

So far, Rutledge has enlisted help from the police and Mayor Melody Robinson. But neither has been able to stop the problem. Police Chief Rick Southerton, present at the meeting, said that officers had responded to several complaints at that location. He said he would check police records, but he was fairly sure no tickets had been issued. The reason: no laws had been broken. Southerton said, “Foul language is annoying and disrespectful, but not illegal.” Nor, in the absence of noise and nuisance ordinances, are the other activities charged to the neighbors illegal.

Both the council and Southerton advised against adoption of a noise ordinance, citing notorious enforcement difficulty. Other possible solutions offered, loitering and nuisance ordinances or curfew imposition, were also dismissed, because they subject police to charges of selective enforcement. “We can’t target individual violators; all laws must be unilaterally enforced,” said Southerton.

Still, the council was not unsympathetic to the plight of Rutledge’s mother and her fellow Stourbridge Square residents. Councilman Chris Murray asked if the houses in question were rental properties. Informed that they were, he suggested making the landlord aware of his tenants’ unruly behavior. To that end, Council president Michael Augello advised Rutledge to begin documenting incidents with a smartphone video camera.

The council also heard moving testimony from Patricia Peterson, a resident of Stourbridge Square. Peterson spoke of how terminally ill residents would go to bed at 8 or 9 p.m., only to be rudely awakened after 11 p.m. by loud music, engines revving and profane language. “That’s no way to spend your last days,” said Peterson.

In a somber mood, the council turned to a challenge over which they exercise more control: the hiring of a borough manager. Augello said that there were several candidates who seemed to have the qualifications sought and that interviews should begin soon.

But Jeremy Ebert said he didn’t feel personally qualified to hire a person of the caliber needed for borough manager. He suggested forming a committee composed of community authorities, such as bankers and hospital administrators, who have hired finance professionals with responsibilities similar to those of the borough manager position.

Solicitor Richard Henry quickly discouraged the idea, saying it would be an abdication of the council’s own responsibility. He added that the idea of a committee was a good one, but that the committee should be comprised of council members and the mayor, who had earlier offered her services with note of her five-year workforce development experience.