Luzerne County Council set to vote on property sale

Luzerne County Council is set to vote Tuesday on the sale of a mountainside Hollenback Township parcel, with officials saying the prospective buyer should not be kept on hold indefinitely.

Hazleton resident Frank V. DeAndrea Jr. had submitted a $20,000 purchase offer in September 2020 after discovering through his research that the county owned the parcel adjacent to his.

At the county’s request, DeAndrea paid for a legal ad announcing the proposed purchase and a certified appraisal, which concluded the parcel is worth $17,000. He did not seek to reduce his offer based on the lower appraisal.

A council majority wanted to perform further review of the appraised value, but that was never completed, officials said.

“I think it’s been going on long enough that we need to make a decision instead of holding up Mr. DeAndrea,” Councilwoman LeeAnn McDermott said at last week’s work session. McDermott chairs council’s Real Estate Committee.

DeAndrea said Monday he is grateful council is acting to resolve the matter because he has fulfilled all steps requested by the county.

He had first contacted the county about buying the unused property four years ago, in December 2019.

“I’ve been in limbo. I’m just happy it’s going to come to a vote,” said DeAndrea, a retired state police trooper and past Hazleton police chief.

The parcel has been described as at least 40 acres, although the administration has said the county can’t make any guarantees on the acreage and must sell it through a quitclaim deed.

DeAndrea addressed council during last week’s work session, saying he owns approximately 300 adjacent acres that he uses for hunting.

Councilman Kevin Lescavage asked DeAndrea if he plans to log the county land for revenue after he purchases it.

DeAndrea said he was informed the county land cannot be logged because it is too steep.

The county piece is landlocked and on a sloped section of Nescopeck Mountain off Ridge Road. DeAndrea said he could not access the top of the mountain on the county land with his quad due to the terrain.

Addressing past inquiries about whether the land could be developed, DeAndrea said he obtained estimates that it would cost at least $35,000 to build an access road, and another buyer would have to go to court seeking easements through parcels owned by at least two property owners, possibly three.

“I don’t know what you’d have to do to build on it,” DeAndrea said.

His appraisal, completed by Cheryl I. Roman, said there is no power “anywhere near” the parcel he wants to buy and that it would be “extremely difficult and cost prohibitive to dig a well for water and septic for sewage.”

DeAndrea also noted he chose a certified appraiser familiar with that area because the county did not have a list of appraisers that must be retained.

While DeAndrea said he came forward on his own to alert the county he was interested in the Hollenback Township parcel, council’s Real Estate Committee has been systematically working to figure out how to unload unused county property.

Council’s voting meeting is at 6 p.m. at the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre. Instructions to attend the meeting remotely are posted under council’s online meeting section at luzernecounty.org.