Commissioners to Renovo Council: Next Move is Yours

LOCK HAVEN — The Clinton County Commissioners say they are prepared to address any legal action filed by Renovo borough council over the latter’s displeasure with the way the county handled the sale of the borough’s old Knights of Columbus lot.

Borough council last week unanimously rejected approval of the lot sale to Riggle LLC, the high bidder in a protracted process to remove the property from the county’s repository list.

Not only did council reject the sale (Riggle LLC had bid $1,000 this year as opposed to the borough’s $500 bid a year ago) but approved a motion to look at possible legal action over county handling of the sale.

County board chairman Pete Smeltz, asked to comment on last week’s borough council action, said, “It sounds like we’re going to litigation; maybe that is where we should be.”

Smeltz said if and when the commissioners get some notification as to court action, they will respond.

Commissioner Joel Long said there is nothing to resolve at this point, noting the county stepped in to help with the cleanup of the old K of C site and in his mind “the matter is over.” He and his fellow commissioners said they do as much as they can “to help Renovo,” pointing out the that most county community development block grant dollars go to the western end of the county.

Long said if borough council will have been “doing its job” enforcing existing code ordinances the K of C matter never would have gotten to the point it did, a reference to the fact that no one could determine who actually owned the site of the dilapidated building which had to be torn down, costs picked up by the borough and the county.

The commissioners indicated the state needs to address what they called “gray areas” in the matter of abandoned properties. The county over the last year has called upon solicitor Larry Coploff to upgrade the procedures for dealing with properties which end up in county repository status.