County considering selling nearly 1,000 acres in Tremont Twp. to Game Commission
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL - The Schuylkill County Commissioners meet on March 1, 2023.
POTTSVILLE – The Schuylkill County Commissioners are considering the sale of nearly 1,000 acres of open space to the state Game Commission.
At Wednesday night’s work session, commissioners discussed the sale, which would see the transfer of two parcels of land in Tremont Township, totaling 975.5 acres, from the county government to the Pennsylvania Game Commission for $1,375,000. The matter was not brought to a vote Wednesday.
The larger of the two parcels — 744 acres — is in the woodlands two miles south of Muir, near Tower City, adjoining existing state game lands. The smaller parcel — 232 acres — is in woodlands east of Interstate 81 and south of the Big Lots Distribution Center near Tremont.
Nature Conservancy of Pennsylvania, a nonprofit, is working with the Game Commission on the potential sale.
“I am a farmer. Typically, I buy land and not sell it,” Commissioners Chairman Barron “Boots” Hetherington said. “However, this is an unusual opportunity.”
Hetherington said both parcels are currently open to public hunting and would remain so under Game Commission ownership. He said the land potentially could have been sold for private use, ending the property’s availability for public hunting and recreation.
He also said the parcels contain coal reserves, and were nearly mined.
He said a mining permit application was challenged by the City of Lebanon Authority, who feared impacts to their watershed. The authority provides water service to the Lebanon County seat via a reservoir in Pine Grove Township, downstream of Baird Run, which runs through county property.
“Therefore, the mineral rights are essentially worthless under today’s regulations,” Hetherington said.
The parcel closer to Tremont borough was assessed and would not be attractive for development due to poor access, topography, the absence of utilities, and prior mining activity, Hetherington said.
He said the sale would both generate $1.3 Million in funding to “benefit every citizen of Schuylkill County,” while keeping the land as open space for hunting and recreation and preventing strip mining, and urged his fellow commissioners to support the sale.
Commissioner George Halcovage questioned the sale price, saying it is below the $2,000 per acre minimum the county has previously sold land for. If sold for the $2,000 per acre figure, the county would receive $1,951,000.
Nicole Wooten, land protection manager for Nature Conservancy, said the $1,375,000 price came from a third party independent appraisal of the land, and that the property would remain in public hands.
Halcovage worried that selling for under $2,000 per acre would create a precedent and cause a multitude of issues for the county.
In other business, Jeff Dunkel, Palo Alto, spoke about the county’s hiring of an outside legal firm related to the county’s settlement of a harassment lawsuit filed by four former employees.
The county approved Wednesday the hiring of Employment Practices Group to provide legal services to the county as a consultant pursuant to the consent decree at an hourly rate of $450.
In other business, commissioners:
- Ratifying designee approved contracts for February 2023;
- Budget adjustments for 2022 for Soil Conservation ($2,364); Coroner ($2,981); and Drug and Alcohol ($14,363);
- A contract with Steelfusion Clinical Toxicology Laboratory, LLC, for postmortem toxicology testing services and expert witness testimony for the coroner’s office for one year, automatically renewing unless terminated;
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