Local News
UPDATE: Building will be a hard sell, real estate agents tell Sharpsville school board
SHARPSVILLE — Real estate agents said they could not predict what the market would be for the Seventh Street Elementary School until they started their work.
School board member Gerard Hanley asked ERA Johnson Real Estate agents Joe Joseph and John Fair if the school will be a �hard sell.�
�Yes, it will be a hard sell,� Joseph said at Monday�s school board meeting.
He and Fair noted the specific use the building was constructed for, the limited zoning opportunities of a general residential zone, and the renovation costs of converting it to another use.
�You can�t put it out tomorrow and expect it to sell,� Joseph said.
Having said that, the agents noted you can never tell what kind of buyers are out there, and the more patient a seller is, the better deal he or she is likely to get
�You really don�t know until you start feeling the market,� Fair said.
Joseph, who has not been hired to list the building, told the board he has already been asked about the building.
�In this particular building, right now, we have somebody interested,� he said. �I really do have somebody who contacted me.�
Fair said the building could be converted to medical offices. John Baglier, real estate agent with Howard Hanna, said it could work as a nursing home, depending on the renovation costs. He said he could not suggest an asking price without bringing in developers to talk about conversion.
�It�s such a nice neighborhood and a nice building,� he said.
While Baglier said he would market the building regionally � Howard Hanna has offices in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York and West Virginia � Fair and Joseph said they would list the building nationally, and through Penn Northwest Development Corp., Mercer County�s lead economic development agency.
The board has floated the idea of selling the building � where it holds its meetings � to cut costs, said Superintendent Mark Ferrara.
The district no longer houses its own students in the building. Midwestern Intermediate Unit IV, Grove City, a private preschool center and Head Start occupy parts of the building. If the district sold the building, it would have to find a new home for Head Start, he said.
Board President David DeForest said it would be nice to get the building back on the tax rolls for the benefit of the borough, but the board still is not decided what to do with it.
�We have not arrived at a definite yes or no,� he said. �One of the things about Sharpsville is we talk things to death.�
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Court nixes ruling man is sexually violent predator
State Superior Court has denied a local judge’s request to issue a precedential opinion in a rape case.
Mercer County Common Pleas Court Judge John C. Reed had ruled that Chad S. Thompson, 24, formerly of Stoneboro, is a sexually violent predator, but Superior Court said in a 2-1 decision July 8 that an expert’s testimony was insufficient to back that declaration.
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Stacey wants to continue fight over razed home
Raymond Stacey has requests pending in three courts as he presses his long-running attempt to prosecute the city of Hermitage and those he believes are responsible for illegally demolishing his parents’ house.
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Philadelphia, on April 29 quashed an appeal because Stacey did not file his argument brief and appendix of supporting documents.
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Burglars strike while residents sleep
Several Shenango Valley residents’ homes were broken into overnight Tuesday and Wednesday while they slept.
Two burglaries in Sharon involved people entering open windows.
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Commissioners formally move to raise sewer fees
Hermitage commissioners introduced an ordinance Wednesday to increase sanitary user fees.
Residents tapped into the Hermitage Municipal Authority lines now pay $95 a quarter. That rate will bump up to $105 a quarter on Jan. 1, under the proposed rate hike.
Two more hikes on Jan. 1, 2012, and Jan. 1, 2013, will result in the rates increasing 50 percent from the current fee. -
Water is on at Forrest Brooke
Water service has been restored at Forrest Brooke Manufactured Home Community after well problems left the 165-unit complex dry Tuesday.
A boil and conserve water advisory has been issued by the DEP and will remain in place until tests confirm the water is safe to drink, Forrest Brooke’s manager Pete Havens said.
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Storm damages trees, wires
Thunderstorms ripped through parts of Mercer and neighboring counties Wednesday night, downing trees and wires and keeping rescue workers on their toes.
A Mercer County 911 dispatcher shortly after 8 p.m. said they were busy with calls across the northern part of the county. He said there had been a few reports of trees falling on homes.
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City leaders open to talks
Sharon officials aren’t opposed to sitting down with their counterparts in Farrell to revisit the idea of combining the two struggling cities.
“It never costs a penny to talk and there’s no (idea) that’s not worth looking at,” Sharon councilman Ed Palanski said. “I think it would be foolish to oppose looking at the idea.”
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Murphy’s Law doesn’t faze regional planners
A complicated, two-day public meeting blitz in 32 counties ran headlong into Murphy’s Law in Mercer County on Tuesday.
The group Power of 32 are looking to re-write the regional map and create a grand, 15-year strategic economic plan for the 32 counties in four states that make up the Ohio River basin and greater Pittsburgh area.
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Forrest Brooke copes with water outage
Residents of Forrest Brooke Mobile Home Community in Jefferson and Lackawannock Townships woke up Tuesday morning to find they didn’t have any water.
Managers of the park could not be reached for comment, but residents said they were told they won’t get water service back for at least another month.
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City facing bleak financial reality
LaVon Saternow has been Farrell’s city manager since 1992. Shortly after she took the job, Sharon Steel, the city’s economic engine, officially closed down.
Since, the city has struggled to remain solvent and Mrs. Saternow said it is facing its worst financial crisis in her tenure.
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Court nixes ruling man is sexually violent predator
