In May, 21 News reported on a toddler who had to be revived after falling into a neighbor’s pond. Now, city officials are trying to close the loophole to prevent similar incidents from happening again.

Girard County Councilman John Moliterno tells 21 News the council will be considering an ordinance that would close a loophole in the city’s residential property maintenance code regarding koi ponds and other bodies of water on homeowners’ properties.

As it stands, if you wanted to install something like a swimming pool in your garden, city law would require it to be an enclosed structure. However, there is no provision in current law requiring bodies of water, such as koi ponds, to be enclosed.

Girard Mayor Mark Zuppo told 21 News that incidents like this should be viewed as an opportunity to make the community safer.

“Whenever a tragic event like the one that happened to the little child in the koi pond occurs, it is important to use that as an opportunity to make the community safer,” said Mayor Zuppo.

The first reading of this resolution will take place during Monday’s meeting of the city council at 7:00 p.m.

The incident occurred in May 2024 when a Girard police officer was called to a home in the 300 block of East Wilson Avenue where an unconscious child had been found fallen into a koi pond in a neighbor’s yard.

For more information about the child’s rescue operation and the statement of the police officer who saved his life, see our material below.