Derry Township interested in purchasing shuttered fire department property at May sheriff’s sale

April 08--Derry Township supervisors are interested in purchasing the former Eastern Derry Township Volunteer Fire Department property along Route 217 in hopes of restoring a second active fire department within the municipality.

The former Eastern Derry headquarters is one of more than 100 properties listed for the county's sheriff sale, and supervisors chairman Vince DeCario said the supervisors have been in discussions with the township's solicitor about trying to buy the property.

"We're interested and we've talked about it," DeCario said. "We're in discussion with our attorneys right now to see what has to be done. ... If we decide to purchase it, that's what we want to see: a fire department there. That's what it was meant for, and we'd like to keep it there."

The property is assessed at $54,930 and was tax exempt according to county tax records.

The department was removed from the Westmoreland County Public Safety call list in late July after defaulting on its vehicle insurance.

As of January, three of the department's four fire trucks had been repossessed after the department fell behind on mortgage payments.

"It would be beneficial," DeCario said of having a second fire department operational. "Our main concern is public safety, so if you could have one there and one here (in Bradenville), it would be great. They still all work together, all the other fire departments outside of the township; they all work together, it would just be nice to have that there."

Eastern Derry relief association members conducted a boot drive and sold lottery-style strip tickets during December and January in an attempt to raise money to reopen.

Relief association vice president Justin Titel said at that point the association was "trying to figure out the right way to go to get this company back open and to show the township that we're not the same people that were in there before."

"I know the last regime put a bad taste in the township and the township supervisors' mouth, and we're just trying to change that," Titel said.

Former Eastern Derry Chief Derrick Bollinger resigned from his post shortly after the department was removed from the county's call list and could not be reached for comment.

A spokesman from the Auditor General's office said the Bureau of Firefighters' Relief Association Audits is conducting a performance audit on the Eastern Derry relief association, which should be completed in late spring or early summer.

First Government Lease Co. of Northfield, Ill., filed court documents in November claiming Eastern Derry had failed to pay its mortgage on the property along state Route 217 for more than two months.

According to the court filing, as of Oct. 29, the fire company owed $106,670 in principal, interest and late charges on the second mortgage. The mortgage for $60,000 was signed in August 2013, according to court documents.

First Commonwealth Bank filed court documents on Dec. 31 seeking to foreclose, claiming the department had fallen behind on payments for its first mortgage. The department owed more than $169,000 on that mortgage, according to court documents. Three of the department's four trucks had been repossessed as of January, Titel said.

The sheriff's sale advertisement lists a total judgment amount of $169,667.68 against the property.

Greg Reinbold is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 724-459-6100, ext. 2913 or greinbold@tribweb.com.

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