Metro

HOLLIDAYSBURG — Blair County commissioners took another step Thursday toward acquiring land targeted for a new county prison near Duncansville.

Commissioners, during their weekly meeting, voted in favor of consulting with a real estate broker and county solicitor on preparing a formal offer to purchase two parcels off Dunnings Highway, above the former Inlow’s restaurant, from Pennsylvania Terminals Corp.

Based on a letter the commissioners signed in October and released publicly in March, the county is offering $585,000 for two wooded parcels of about 83 acres, mostly in Blair Township and with a smaller section in Allegheny Township.

Commissioner Amy Webster cautioned after the meeting that preparation of a formal offer does not mean that the county has a deal to buy the land from Pennsylvania Terminals Corp.

“The owners never signed off on the (county’s) original letter of intent,” Webster said.

If the owners approve the to-be-prepared formal offer that commissioners authorized Thursday, Webster said Blair County would then be in a position to make a down payment to secure the purchase.

“But we don’t know at this point,” Webster said. “They might say ‘we’re not going to sell it to you.'”

Commissioner Dave Kessling said that Pennsylvania Terminals Corp. previously indicated a willingness to sell. And even though they didn’t sign off on the county’s original letter of intent, they allowed access to the site for environmental studies and utility assessments, Kessling said.

Those assessments turned up no concerns, with commissioners revealing Thursday that the most recent reports confirming access to water, sewer and electrical services and sufficient capacity to address the proposed prison’s demand.

“We now know that this property can be built on,” Commissioner Laura Burke said.

As currently designed, the prison is expected to be a 150,000-square-foot one-story facility with 454 beds in nine housing units. It’s proposed as a replacement for the current structure on Mulberry Street that was built in 1868 and 1869 with subsequent expansions that were insufficient to adequately accommodate a growing inmate population, some of whom are now being housed in Centre County at a daily cost to Blair County.

Webster also said Thursday that the $585,000 price referenced in the county’s original letter of intent reflected appraised values from the county’s assessment office, with common-level-ratio adjustments.

Commissioners offered no insight Thursday as to when the county’s formal offer for the land will be completed and ready for presentation to Pennsylvania Terminals Corp. The commissioners won’t be meeting again until June 11 since they canceled a scheduled meeting for June 4.

Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 814-946-7456