Altoona City Council on Tuesday approved Blair County's proposed purchase of a vacant house from the county's own tax-sale "repository" - on the condition the county posts a bond guaranteeing demolition.

The condition angers Blair County Commissioner Terry Tomassetti.

In August, the city refused permission for city resident Charles Bisignano to buy the property, because he's a prior code offender, and the city previously had to pay to demolish buildings he owned, said City Manager Joe Weakland.

The county is trying to get around the denial by purchasing the property on the 600 block of Eighth Avenue itself, so it can sell it to Bisignano, who plans to demolish the house at no cost to taxpayers, Tomassetti said.

But posting a bond to guarantee that demolition occurs would cost taxpayer money, he said.

The county might persuade the city to accept a no-cost alternative in the form of a certified check the city could tear up after demolition, he said.

But demanding a guarantee of any sort is hardly in keeping with "the spirit of cooperation and collegiality" that should characterize relations between the two largest local governments, he said.

He hopes to meet with city officials to discuss it.

City Mayor Wayne Hippo wouldn't have a problem with holding a check as an alternative to a bond, but nevertheless wants assurance that the blight will be gone - given that the house is going to a someone with whom the city has had code issues, he said.

He disagrees with Tomassetti's claim that the city's demand for a guarantee indicates a lack of cooperation, because the city went from flat denial of Bisignano to conditional acceptance of the county's offer, he said.

More broadly, Tomassetti resents that the city recently has begun forcing the county to fulfill its technical obligation to maintain repository properties - an obligation that exists because of a longstanding provision defining ownership in the city's Property Maintenance Code, coupled with a precedent court case, he said.

Previously, the county cut the grass on repository properties, but nothing more, he said.

As merely "quasi owner" of repository properties - those that have gone unclaimed through two tax sales - the county should not be responsible, he said.

"We've become like their insurer/financier to tear down" derelict properties, he said.

The city first ordered the county to demolish a repository property a few months ago.

That demolition on the Eagles building is ongoing and will eventually cost the county $279,000, money it had to budget specifically in next year's spending plan, Tomassetti said.

The new city policy probably reflects the city's financial desperation, he said.

But the county also is struggling.

Taxing bodies can veto repository purchases.

The city is owed $3,450 in back taxes on the house.

It's next to the former Mollica's Market, which also is vacant, according to Tomassetti.