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Pocono News Section
Neighbors Stunned at Collapsed Church's Reassessment Value
Neighbors Stunned at Collapsed Church's Reassessment Value - Sunday, August 24, 2008 at 7:15PM EST
Reported by: Jill Konopka
Sunday, Aug 24, 2008 @ 07:15pm EST
LARKSVILLE, LUZERNE COUNTY- For months Paul Sincavage of Larksville says he's been trying to find out who owns the abandoned church at the corner of East Third and Marcy Streets.
Initially, Sincavage was interested in buying the property but concerned that it was only a matter of time before it came crashing down. Now he and his neighbors want to know what the rightful owners are going to do about this major mess.
The roof of the Larksville Mission For Christ Church in Larksville collapsed Saturday afternoon. And the weight of one the walls is still leaning on his home. Sincavage told Eyewitness News, "Nobody's taken care of anything. The whole side wall of the church is leaning against my house; rafters in the back of the house crunched up, you can see the wrinkles and everything."
The roof crumbled Saturday startling everyone in the neighborhood . Stanley Piekanski felt his whole house shake. "There was just a huge cloud of dust and everything and I called 9-1-1 and that's it," he said.
Since then, they've have done some digging to find out who owns the abandoned church. Piekanski added, "When they looked on the reassessment, it's listed as county ownership."
Neighbors tell us they're shocked this piece of property was just reassessed for $169,700. Piekanski said, "To me that’s the smoking gun at how bad they messed up this reassessment, that it tells ya' right there. Nobody really reassessed it. Nobody walked in and checked the foundation, checked the roof."
Property owners think it's dangerous. They want the debris gone and the place demolished. Sincavage said, "Yes, yes I'd like to see the county come in and clean it up, so our neighborhood can stay nice like it is."
Members of the Larksville Borough Council say they're concerned as well. But a decision to do anything is not up to them. Council President Joe Romanoskey said, "We don't own the property. We were going to call a special meeting but we're going to see what the county does first before we get involved.”
Eyewitness News reached out to all three Luzerne County Commissioners Sunday. Commission Chairwoman Maryanne Petrilla is the only one who returned our calls. In a statement to Eyewitness News Petrilla said, “I'm out of town today and would prefer waiting to provide comment until I have more information." | | |
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