29-01-2025
Commissioners approve demolition contracts
POTTSVILLE — Commissioners approved contracts for demolition projects at their meeting Wednesday.
Properties in Ashland, Girardville, Mahanoy City, Palo Alto and Tamaqua are slated for demolition.
The following is the list of locations and contracts approved:
Affordable Construction and Demo, $15,944 for 1321 Spruce St., Ashland
Brdaric Excavating Inc., $9,200, 344 E. Mahanoy Ave.,Girardville
AMC Enterprise, $6,248 20 E. Preston Ave., Girardville
Affordable Construction and Demo, $19,444, 324-326 W. Ogden St., Girardville
AMC Enterprise, $39,221, 24 E. Ogden St., Girardville
Affordable Construction and Demo, $23,444, 34 E. Center St., Mahanoy City and $8,444, 258 W. Savory St., Palo Alto
J. Daniel Farber, $21,333 for 35, 37 and 39 Railroad St., Tamaqua
A combination of Community Development Block Grant funds and a state demolition grant will pay for the demolition projects, said Ron Zimmerman, county grants manager.
Tim Barr, project director of Vision Government Solutions, the Massachusetts-based company the Schuylkill County Commissioners hired in December 2022 to do the first countywide reassessment since 1996, gave an update at the meeting.
He announced there would be 'reassessment informational meetings' about the process in Blue Mountain, Tamaqua, North Schuylkill, Pine Grove, and Pottsville in March. Details have not been finalized, he said.
'This is the most important outreach we will do from the reassessment,' Barr said.
'I want to people to know about this,' said Commissioner Larry Padora.
The approximately 90-minute-long meetings will be a mixture of question and answer and information about the next steps in the process.
'People want to know, 'What do I do if I think the value is wrong?' or 'What do I do if I think it's not worth this?' ' Barr said.
Field data collectors started visiting properties May 15, 2024.
Property owners will receive change of assessment notices in the spring. That change will include proposed values, Barr said. Formal assessments will be issued July 1 with formal appeals from July to October 2025.
'None of this affects taxes until 2026,' Barr said.
Besides the primary appeal board, there could be five auxiliary appeal boards for the process. About 20 residents of the county will be needed. Details are not finalized.
'It is full-time work during the appeal window,' Barr said about those jobs.
Commissioners hired the Vision Government Solutions in December 2022 to conduct the reassessment, which is required as part of a settlement of a lawsuit filed by the Community Justice Project, the nonprofit that contends the county's current tax assessment violates state law.
Commissioners voted in February 2023 to borrow $7,341,000 to pay for the reassessment.
