LAWRENCE COUNTY Vote seals sale of Hill View Manor

One commissioner wanted to delay the vote until Tuesday.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- In about a week, Lawrence County should be out of the nursing home business.
County commissioners, by a 2-1 vote Thursday, agreed to sell Hill View Manor to Sylvan Heights Realty Partners of New Castle in a two-stage deal. The county expects to get its first check by Thursday.
Sylvan Heights will buy the nursing home and 14 acres for $1,050,000 in the first part of the deal. The company will buy the adjacent 21 wooded acres for $554,000 sometime later this year.
A previous deal to buy all the property at once failed when Sylvan Heights' financing fell through.
Commissioner Ed Fosnaught, who has opposed the sale from the start, voted against the two-step sales agreement.
He also objected to commissioners' voting on the matter at a caucus, a session usually reserved for setting the agenda for the following Tuesday's public meeting.
"I think we are trying to shortchange the public from their opportunity to make comments," Fosnaught said.
Second deal
Commissioners spent nearly an hour going over the deal's financing with county Solicitor John Hodge before agreeing to the sale.
After the meeting, Hodge said little had changed since the original deal was made. The county had expected to sell the home and land June 30, but the buyer's bank pulled out when the county would not guarantee the loan.
Hodge said the county is not permitted to guarantee loans for private entities.
The buyers do have financing this time, he added.
County officials expect to net $556,688 from the first part of the sale after paying taxes, fees and other items. Another $490,000 will come after the second parcel is sold.
Commissioner Brian Burick said the county will likely not lay off employees before the sale.
The county had instructed the home's administrator to submit a plan to eliminate some jobs after the county couldn't meet employee payroll two weeks ago. Burick said this morning that plan has not been submitted.
The new owners could not be reached too comment.
cioffi@vindy.com