Pocono News Section

State Money Will Help Clear Collapsed Church

State Money Will Help Clear Collapsed Church - Monday, August 25, 2008 at 5:21PM EST

Reported by: Mike Trim
Monday, Aug 25, 2008 @ 05:21pm EST
LARKSVILLE, LUZERNE COUNTY- A collapsed Larksville church will be cleared with state money. That’s according to a spokesman for State Representative John Yudichak. The announcement comes after the Larksville Borough and Luzerne County had troubles locating the church property owners. The money will be used to clear the mess until the owners are found.

Neighbor Paul Sincavage says the collapsed Mission of Christ Church is leaning on his last nerve. The church collapsed Saturday, and a church wall keeps pushing toward his house. “To get that out of there, there's a good possibility that half the roof's going to have to be ripped off," says Sincavage.

Sincavage had to shut off his gas, and can't live at his home now. He wants to know who owns the church property. Sincavage says, “I'm at the jeopardy of losing my home. And all i want is someone to come down here and say let's just do it and we'll deal with the paperwork later."

Right now, reassessment paperwork is causing problems. The vacant church was reassessed this year, and incorrectly labeled "county held property".

Luzerne County leaders say the property is tax exempt and belongs to the Union Church. But it closed years ago. Luzerne County Communications Director Jason Jarecki says, "Based on what I've been told by people in our assessment office, the county does not own this property. The owner's listed as union church. So we have to figure out exactly who represents union church and it might be an issue where if the borough can't find out, they have to come to county and we might have to work together to get this resolved."

Sincavage says no matter who owns it, it needs to be knocked down, now. "This is our home. I mean, this is what we call home. And to lose it. I don't want to lose it over something as negligent as this," says Sincavage.

A spokesman for State Represenative John Yudachak says state money is on the way to help. He says, the state will reimburse the Borough of Larksville to immediately clear the church debris.