DUNCANSVILLE — After two public auctions and a monthslong listing by a local real estate agent, the Duncansville Borough Council approved Re/Max as the new real estate agent for the obsolete Municipal Building in order to pursue an “aggressive” sale strategy, said Borough Manager Rodney Estep.

The building has sat unused since November 2024 after the borough office and police headquarters relocated to the newly renovated Community Center two blocks away.

Borough Council listed the building with L&H Realty Group in Duncansville in November after two public auctions without a bid — a statutory prerequisite for selling a government building on the open market.

Proceeds from the sale would have gone toward paying off the first phase of a comprehensive $350,000 Community Center renovation project that began early last year.

At the time, council listed the property at $257,000 after receiving an appraisal for the same amount, but was unsuccessful at that price.

Estep said he invited a number of local real estate agents to tour the building three weeks ago, which resulted in five proposals for new listings from five realty companies.

All five proposals presented a different marketing strategy for the property, Estep said.

“We want to see a heavy footprint in social media (advertisements), a heavy footprint in showings and we also want to be guided by the market,” Estep said.

Mayor Eric Fritz said he prefers a real estate agent who would use social media marketing.

After a private discussion in executive session, the council approved Re/Max for a six-month contract to list the property. Re/Max will receive a portion of the final sale price as commission for its services.

Estep said council members wanted to “expand their horizons” with real estate agents in order to ensure a prompt sale of the building.

In other business, the council tabled a proposed contract from General Code for a sweeping codification and digitization process for the borough.

Codification would collect all of the borough’s ordinances into a single document, which would be hosted online, allowing easy access by community members.

Under the current organization system, borough officials have to sort through the stacks of paper records in the office every time a resident asks them about a specific ordinance, Estep said.

Several board members expressed concern with the proposal, which quoted a price of about $17,000 for the project to be paid in installments for each successive portion of completed work, but did not specify whether paying for one portion immediately required them to start the following portion.

There was also discussion of including the borough Sewer and Water Authority ordinances in the project, and whether that would be included in the $17,000 quote or would it require a new estimate.

The discussion was tabled until the next council meeting on March 10 in order to seek clarification from both the General Code and the authority.

Mirror Staff Writer Conner Goetz is at 814-946-7535.