Commissioners Don’t Blink Approving Sales Agreement on Storage Property

Schuylkill County Commissioners unanimously agreed to enter into a sales agreement to purchase a massive storage property in Pottsville on Wednesday.

The sales agreement would have Schuylkill County government purchase the property at 306 Prospect St. for $375,000. The purchase is pending an appraisal and environmental assessment.

There was no public discussion of the property or the sale price at Wednesday’s Commissioners meeting.

Previously, the Commissioners indicated the 25,000-square foot property was necessary to store archives the County maintains at the Courthouse and a property near Bulls Head Road.

The archives stored at the Courthouse, Commissioner Gary Hess says, were getting so heavy they nearly caved in the ceiling above Courtroom 1 there.

And Commissioners Barron Hetherington told The Canary after Wednesday’s meeting that the County was having issues with the landlord at the Bulls Head property.

Hetherington said Wednesday he hadn’t seen the property he agreed to purchase. But in a conversation with Hess on Thursday, the Commissioner told The Canary he inspected the property about a month ago and said via phone, “It looked good to me.”

Hess says the Jalappa storage property, the longtime home of Pottsville Moving & Storage, has a new roof and recently had its freight elevator inspected.

Alternatives Explored, Hess Says

The Canary asked Hess if the Commissioners explored other possibilities before agreeing to enter into the sales agreement on the Prospect St. property.

Specifically, we asked about the former STS headquarters in the St. Clair Industrial Park. Hess said that property is “still in play” for use as a pre-release prison center.

We also asked about storing archives digitally. Hess said the County is in the process of scanning many of its archives to store that way but some records, he said, still need to be on paper.

“You still have a lot of paper,” Hess said by phone on Thursday. “Most of the records you can scan. Some they still want evidence on paper.”

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