ASHLAND - Ashland Borough Council rejected 12 repository sale bids on 13 parcels at its June 12 meeting because the sole bidder owns existing nuisance properties in the borough.
The properties, located throughout the borough and all with different owners, were put up for repository sale by the Schuylkill County Tax Claim Bureau. The bidder on all properties was House Flex LLC, Mount Carmel.
Borough Manager Ray Jones said the council's vote to reject the sales was unanimous.
"The purchases of all of those properties were denied," Jones said. "The owner of House Flex is George Atiyeh, who owns a number of properties in the borough on which we have ongoing issues involving code enforcement and utility payments."
According to the Real Estate Tax Sale Law, Section 627, the tax bureau may, with written consent of all taxing districts where the property is located, accept an offer of any price for property placed in the "repository for unsold properties" without court approval and published notice of sale. Any taxing district may not unreasonably withhold its consent to the sale of the property.
"A repository sale is for properties that have gone through every other kind of sale (sheriff's sale, judicial sale)," Jones said.
House Flex bought three Ashland properties in May through a county judicial sale. The company's bids on the repository sale properties ranged from $660 to $9,000.
In other business, on June 1, the borough conducted an electronic recycling collection through Responsible Recycling Services, Reading. The service accepted all types of used electronic equipment that can no longer be discarded through household trash collection. Jones said 10,020 pounds of electronic equipment, mostly computers, were received. The total weight does not include televisions, for which Jones did not yet have a number.
The borough council also:
- Approved the final payment of $8,985.12 to Heim Construction Co. Inc., the general contractor on the recent Streetscape project, which included the 400 and 500 blocks of Centre Street. With the payment, the downtown project is completed.
- Gave permission for the annual Schuylkill County "DARE Mile" to be held Oct. 5. The race helps raise funds for DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education), which is a collaborative program in which local law enforcement and local schools join together to educate students about the personal and social consequences of substance abuse and violence. The local DARE program is sponsored by the Schuylkill County Sheriff's Department.
- Acknowledged a thank you letter from the Ashland Public Library for the annual contribution of $2,500.