Oil City Council Grills Gibson Over 171 Siverly Avenue

| August 26, 2017

OIL CITY, Pa. (EYT) – At Thursday’s Oil City Council meeting, council members grilled Walter Gibson over the potential sale of 171 Siverly Avenue.

A few weeks ago Gibson approached the city about buying the property, which the city purchased earlier this year from the Venango County Land Bank.

But, the Council and City Manager Mark Schroyer are leery of selling the property with the fear that whoever buys it, in this case – Gibson – would end up not being able to complete the necessary work on it, and the property would continue the cycle of a depleted building.

“I’m looking for a residence,” Gibson told the council. “The house is structurally sound, and I intend to make it inhabitable for me personally. I think I can handle (the work), and I think it is better to restore it than tear down the house and have another vacant lot that nobody wants.”

Oil City Mayor William Moon said he would be willing to sell Gibson the house if he would put up a $10,000.00 bond for the property that the city could use to tear down the house if he wasn’t able to finish repairs on it.

“I’m not sure I can handle (the $10,000),” Gibson said.

Moon answered that it has been a revolving door of owners who haven’t been able to fix the house.

“I understand that,” Gibson said. “I think I can have it fixed within a year, although weather would play a factor in that.”

Councilman Ron Gustafson said his biggest concern was the outside of the house.

“The neighbors have to stare at that,” Gustafson said. “I stopped by and talked to some of them. They are a little leery of another owner. They would like to see it gone.”

Councilman Dale Massie asked Gibson how much money he thought it would take to fix the house.

“I think it would be around $5,000.00,” Gibson said.

Gustafson, who is a contractor, said he believed it would be a lot more than that, especially considering the house doesn’t have a furnace or any appliances.

“I have a lot of materials already available,” Gibson said.

He then went on to say that he would also look at getting siding from Home Depot and possibly windows from a second-hand window store in Rocky Grove.

Councilman Michael Poff said refurbishing the house seems like it is a great idea, but he isn’t sure if it will happen.

“If there was a plan that could be presented to us, I think we would feel better about it,” Poff said. “When you say $5,000.00, we just had a kitchen redone, and it cost for than $5,000.00.”

Gustafson reiterated that he didn’t believe the budget was realistic.

“I’m not sure how you (will) get it done,” Gustafson said. “I’m leery of it falling short.”

Poff then suggested that if Gibson could come back at the next meeting with a solid plan of how much each part of the renovation would cost and how he would pay for it, he would consider the sale. At that point, the council voted to table the measure until the next meeting, which is scheduled for September 14.


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