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Council declines to authorize solicitor to pursue mystery buyer; option to buy East Franklin Street property remains
Summary
Council discussed an option to purchase a condemned East Franklin Street property held by an entity calling itself the Elaine Will Trust (trustee Margaret Schudel). The solicitor was asked to clarify details but a motion to contact the property owner failed on a show-of-hands vote.
Council discussed an option-to-purchase on a condemned East Franklin Street property after staff received an unsolicited option agreement. Speaker 5 told council an option dated Jan. 10 included a $1,000 option payment and a $495,000 purchase price, and that staff had been unable to locate the trustee or the trust record in Pennsylvania or Maryland registries.
Staff described outreach attempts and said the borough could contact property owner Mr. Ruffin / Mr. Rippin to seek clarification. Several councilors cautioned against becoming involved in a private sale or disrupting a potential private buyer; others said a brief follow-up call to close the loop would be appropriate. Speaker 2 moved to have the solicitor contact the person who submitted the option for clarification; the motion failed after a show-of-hands vote.
Council discussed continuing code-enforcement actions on the condemned property; staff advised that code violations remain attached to the property unless a separate agreement is made, and the borough could still pursue code remedies. Speaker 5 said staff would report back if they learned anything further and would not continue outreach absent a council directive.
