Local News
UPDATE: Properties near Walmart appealing county tax assessments
HERMITAGE — The owners of three properties next to the Hermitage Walmart have filed assessment appeals in Mercer County Common Pleas Court.
The most significant of the parcels is the 10-acre lot on which has been built an L-shaped plaza to the south of Walmart, said Andrew K. Mudrinich, attorney for property owner GE Apartments Ltd., Akron, Ohio. This parcel is assessed at $757,500. The assessments of the other parcels were not immediately available.
Mercer County Revenue Director Michael P. DeForest said he would not comment on pending litigation.
Property taxes are based on a property’s assessment. The appeal concerns the property taxes paid to the county, the city of Hermitage and Hermitage School District.
According to the appeal filed Monday, GE Apartments appealed to the Mercer County Board of Assessment Appeals, which is made up of the Mercer County commissioners, but the board upheld the assessment in a Dec. 31 notice of decision.
According to Mudrinich, the fair market value upon which the assessment is based is higher than the market value of the property.
The initial appraisal done on the plaza property was “founded largely on projected rental revenues” that were “based on unduly optimistic projections.”
The plaza is at 56 percent occupancy.
“That’s the high-water mark since its inception in 2006,” Mudrinich said.
Plaza owners have been reducing their rental price over the years because of the lack of demand, he said.
Mudrinich said one of the things he wants to find out is who projected rental revenues for the purposes of the assessment. DeForest declined to comment.
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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
