County Looking to Offload Properties

by Jonathan Weaver

While Armstrong County Commissioners also discussed options swirling around changes at the Armstrong County Health Center in Kittanning, that discussion also spurred discussion on other properties.

Commissioner Chair Pat Fabian said the trio is going “property-by-property” to assess County-owned land.

“There’s so much of it,” Fabian said.

Commissioner Jason Renshaw knew of at leave one parcel of property as large as 220 acres that is not being taxed, and commissioners also discussed the Armsdale Administration Building in Rayburn Township and the Kittanning Senior Center in Kittanning Borough.

“We don’t need in the rental business anymore,” Renshaw said.

“We want to bring people back into downtown Kittanning

As far as the Armsdale Administration Building, Renshaw said commissioners are working with a local businessman to move one of the Armsdale tenants downtown.

Commissioner Pat Fabian said commissioners have also discussed options of what to do with a County-owned cornfield along Route 85.

For more than 40 years, Armstrong County has owned 155 acres of open farm land in Rayburn Township – property previously owned by the Middle-Armstrong County Industrial Development Organizatiion (MACIDU).

However, County Controller Myra Miller opened only a single $80,000 bid from Glade Park Gas, L.P of Kittanning in Summer 2014 to buy 34.83 acres of the land after 10 bid packets were sent out. That bid was ultimately rejected.

At the time, Tax Claim Bureau Director Jeanne Englert said the bid received was a ‘good value’ for the land, which was appraised for about $60,000 and has been owned by the County for nearly 40 years.

Then the County Clerk, Commissioner George Skamai, said a business adjacent to the land also expressed interest in a small portion of the land for the use of employee parking on that tract of land, which prompted curiosity if the land is marketable to other individuals or businesses.

A small church also expressed interest in a portion of the land before, but County Code obligated Commissioners not to due to the professional appraisal cost.

At least two main gas lines, a water line and sewage line restrict what can be done with the acreage. The land is also in a flood plain.

Don Claypoole, of West Franklin Township, questioned if sold if the land will be deemed agricultural.

“We want to put it out for bid, see what those bids are, get it back on the tax rolls, and get as much out of it as we possibly can,” Fabian said.

Commissioner Fabian added that interest is also growing in the Queen Street property.

“Actually, through these town hall conversations, I’ve had people call me interested in buying it, keeping the senior center in place there,” Fabian said. “(If) it goes back onto the tax rolls, we don’t have to put capital into it anymore.”

Commissioner Renshaw said even though there are many ‘what if’ questions, one thing is clear.

“We’re going to make the best decisions for the county – that’s what we try to do with every decision,” Renshaw concluded.

4 Comments

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  By ktown_kid, September 19, 2016 @ 8:29 AM

  So the county turned down $80,000 for 34 acres and then you claim you are making the best decisions for the county. Maybe Renshaw could grow and sell $12 pumpkins on the farmland and donate the profits to the county. You have these townhall meetings to feed the public a bunch of BS. How about solicitation the industrial parks for growth. I haven’t read one article stating you actually tried to bring jobs into the county. There are 3 of you, unless Renshaw needs his hand held all of the time, maybe at least one could advertise the parks. There are more important things that need to go on other than telling magistrates they can’t use green pens anymore.
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  By jorn jensen, September 19, 2016 @ 9:06 PM

  Well, ktown_kid, back in the primary, there was one of 15 candidates talking jobs as a high priority, but never mind that. In fairness to these commissioners, there is only so much they can do to bring work here. Yes, they can advertise, use KOZ, LERTA and other tax-avoidance scams. But, to really make work happen here, these 3 guys need to land on Jeff Pyle’s, Don White’s and Donna Oberlander’s desks - they need to push a completely different mindset for this area - push legislators to push other legislators to make Pennsylvania a right-to-work state. That’s a big challenge - this state loves unions and democrats and is willing to go down with them. It will take a major mindset change.

  The last state that I worked in was Nebraska - a right-to-work state. They’re doing fine. At that time, the state of Nebraska had a 3.5% unemployment rate, and the town I worked in, Norfolk, had a 3% unemployment rate, You’ll remember Norfolk from the news - the Obama library outhouse on the back of a Ford F250 flatbed.

  In the rust belt, Indiana and Michigan are right-to-work, as are most southern states where a lot of our work has gone to). Indiana is busy and Michigan is picking up - it is the most recent to go right-to-work.

  Don’t beat them up for the town hall meetings - they’re the first ones in a long while that are doing so. I think it is a great move on their part - if they’re feeding BS, call them out on it, publicly, in the meetings.
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  By India, September 20, 2016 @ 7:06 AM

  ktown , you need to read closely. It states that in 2014 the offer was rejected. You are venting on the wrong commissioners.
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  By ktown_kid, September 20, 2016 @ 8:41 AM

  India, these clowns are out of their league. Have you drove by the county parking lot lately? It has 2 major sink holes. It could collapse at anytime. Have they attempted to make it a safe work place? I bet Renshaw would jump to fix a pot hole in his road to the pumpkin patch. There is only so much they can do but they need to realize that building full of people run the county

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