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Reassessment mediation to start

Four mediators will work with residential property owners; county to try to resolve differences

HOLLIDAYSBURG — Mediation is starting today for Blair County property owners who continue to seek adjustments in the values assigned to their property through reassessment.

This week’s court schedule shows mediation hearings at the courthouse for property owners who received a decision letter from a formal appeal boards and subsequently filed a court appeal in the prothonotary’s office.

Four mediators will work with residential property owners and county representatives to see if they can resolve the differences instead of having the appeal to continue through the court system, court administrator Janice Meadows said.

The mediators are:  Senior Judge Charles Brown Jr. of Centre County and attorneys David Halpern, Walter Wall and Dave Andrews, all Blair County attorneys with experience in mediating civil court cases, Meadows said.

Blair County Chief Assessor Deanna Heichel said Monday that she will represent the county during mediation procedures and that attorney Janet Burkardt of Pittsburgh, if needed and available, can also attend and represent the county.

Evaluator Services & Technology, the Greensburg-based company that commissioners hired to calculate and assign the assessed values, is not involved in mediation, Heichel said, because at this stage, the appeal rests with the county.

“I’ll be there to defend the county’s values,” she said. “And to consider changes based on what’s a fair market value.”

Property owners who find no relief through mediation, Meadows said, will be directed toward pre-trial conferences that will involve a judge and could lead to a trial.

In a recent interview, President Judge Elizabeth Doyle said she thinks that the property owners will find mediation and pre-trial conferences to be helpful because they can help clarify the issues and the merits of one’s arguments.  But for those who aren’t satisfied, Doyle said the court system remains an option.

“The court’s aim in all of this is to have full and fair hearings … and to allow every opportunity to settle these matters without coming to trial, if that’s how they choose to settle their case,” Doyle said. “But if people want a trial, they can get a trial. … Our mission, as a court system is to make sure the process is fair.”

Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 946-7456.

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