SCRANTON — Lackawanna County officials want to sell 10 county-owned parcels totaling about 300 acres in the North Pocono area.
Commissioners authorized Nasser Real Estate during Wednesday’s commissioners meeting to list the properties, all of which are located in either Covington or Elmhurst townships and range in size from 1.51 acres to 80.75 acres. The Covington parcels are located in the areas of Lehigh Road and Freytown Road in the township, while the Elmhurst properties are located in the areas of Front and North Main streets, Simerson Road and Route 435.
Records show the county acquired at least nine of the properties as part of a large acquisition in May 2007, when Theta Land Corp. sold about 5,000 acres of watershed land to the state, county
and a conservation group for about $5.2 million. Officials at the time lauded purchase as a conservation and preservation effort, with the state providing $1.2 million and the county $4 million for the purchase.
Theta Land Corp. transferred the acreage to the Conservation Fund, a nonprofit involved in the sale, which then transferred it to the county for $4 million, according a deed signed May 10, 2007.
Mortgage documents obtained by The Times-Tribune show Dunmore businessman Louis DeNaples borrowed $10 million against Theta Land Corp.’s holdings in 2012.
More than a decade after the land sale, however, officials say the county has no use for the 10 undeveloped parcels it wants to sell. Returning those tax-exempt parcels to the tax rolls is in the best interest of the county, Commissioner Laureen Cummings said.
Nasser appraised the 10 parcels last year, though the value of the appraisal was unavailable Wednesday.
Commissioners only authorized Nasser to list the properties at market value. If a buyer makes an offer on any of the parcels, commissioners still must approve the sale, county General Counsel Donald Frederickson said.
Meanwhile, Commissioner Jerry Notarianni said he is studying the issue further to make sure the properties can legally be sold. If state money was used to acquire the parcels originally, there may be restrictions on how the land can be sold or transferred.
“To sell land that serves no useful purpose to Lackawanna County and getting it back on the tax rolls is a wonderful concept, as long as it’s done for the right reasons and in the right ways,” Notarianni said.
Attempts to reach Commissioner Patrick O’Malley after Wednesday’s meeting were unsuccessful.
In other business Wednesday, commissioners awarded a contract for interior restoration work on the first floor of the downtown Bank Towers building to Sean Byrne Construction, who submitted the low bid of $29,954.
Before relocating to the county’s new government center at the former Globe store, the Scranton Lackawanna Human Development Agency leased about 11,500 square feet of space in Bank Towers. Language in SLHDA’s prior lease with 321 Development LP, the firm that owns Bank Towers at 321 Spruce St., requires the county to restore the first-floor space SLHDA once occupied to the condition it was in before the lease commenced.
The interior work comes amid an ongoing rent dispute between the county and 321 Development LP over nearly $300,000 in rent and fees the company claims the county owes after SLHDA moved offices to the county government center.
In April, Bank Towers attorney John McGovern filed legal action signed by 321 Development LP principal Joseph Ferrario, and the county responded in May. The legal matter is independent of the first-floor interior work.
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