Purchase offer submitted for 27 Luzerne County-owned parcels

Dallas residents Alan and Brenda Pugh have submitted an offer to purchase 27 Luzerne County-owned parcels in Dallas Township for $500 each, or a combined total $13,500.

Brenda Pugh said the parcels are tiny and worth less than the purchase offer amount because they are in the middle of the woods with no public utilities or frontage along the closest street, Fairgrounds Road. Some plots are swampy.

Only three of the 27 are adjoining, she said, estimating a grouping of seven connected parcels would be needed to meet the township’s 1-acre minimum requirement for a new structure.

Additional time and expense also will be needed to generate clean titles for the parcels, she said.

The lots were once part of the long-defunct Dallas Union Agriculture Fair holdings, she said. The Pughs own several other properties in that area and have no specific plans if they acquire more, she said.

A private purchase would return the properties to the tax rolls and reduce the county’s inventory, she said.

“It’s a big puzzle,” she said of the patchwork of properties. “If this purchase happens, it happens. If it does not work out, fine. I thought we’d give it a shot because they’ve just been sitting there for decades with no activity.”

Each parcel was assessed between $13,300 to $26,100 for county real estate tax purposes, although these values may not be realistic because they were uncontested under county ownership, officials said.

Council’s real estate committee voted last week to forward the proposed purchase to the full council for its discussion at an upcoming work session.

Butler Township land

The county law office is drafting a request-for-proposals package that will be used to publicly seek entities interested in performing a survey of approximately 407 acres of county-owned property in Butler Township that could eventually be sold, said Councilwoman LeeAnn McDermott, who chairs the real estate committee.

This land is in the county’s hands because it operated the Kis-Lyn work camp for juvenile delinquents from 1912 to 1965. The county owns 530 acres but has a long-term lease with the Keystone Job Corps Center to operate its federally funded, residential educational/vocational program on a 123-acre portion.

Another purchase

Hazleton resident Frank V. DeAndrea Jr.’s proposed purchase of a county-owned parcel in Hollenback Township has not yet come before council for a vote because he is obtaining an appraisal as requested by council, McDermott told the committee last week.

DeAndrea owns the adjoining 300 acres, which he uses for hunting and outdoor recreation, and he said the county piece would not be of interest to anyone else due to the topography and lack of access. The 40-acre county tract is landlocked and on a steep section of the Nescopeck Mountain, he has said.

Based on the sale of another nearby parcel, he offered the county $20,000, or about $500 per acre, he said.

ABC meeting

Council’s Authorities, Boards and Commissions (ABC) Committee will publicly interview citizen applicants for board seats at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

The most pressing need: applicants to fill a new vacancy on the county’s Flood Protection Authority, which oversees the Wyoming Valley Levee system.

Applications are posted under council’s ABC section at luzernecounty.org.

Directions to attend Tuesday’s virtual committee meeting are posted in council’s public meetings online link on the county site.

Election Board

The county Election Board will hold a special meeting Wednesday to publicly interview citizen applicants for a fifth board chairmanship seat.

A link to attend the 5 p.m. virtual session is posted in the election section of the county site.

Code review

Council’s County Code Review Committee will meet at 4:30 p.m. Thursday to continue its review of proposed changes to the county’s administrative code. The virtual attendance link is under council’s public meetings online section.

Ethics meeting

The county ethics commission will meet virtually at 10 a.m. Friday, with attendance instructions posted under the ABC meetings online link on the county site.

The commission last met in September 2019, records show.

Under the county’s home rule charter, three county officials serve on the commission — Manager C. David Pedri, Controller Michelle Bednar and District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce — along with two council-appointed citizens, currently Diane Dreier and Thomas Mosca.