County authority conveys fire-ravaged jail

April 21--COAL TOWNSHIP -- The five members of the Northumberland County Authority unanimously voted to turn over the deed and insurance money of the former Northumberland County Prison, a historic structure heavily damaged by fire in January 2015.

At Wednesday night's special meeting in the Coal Township Municipal Building, Authority Chairman Vinny Clausi and members Joe Pancerella, Gene Welsh, Greg Fetterman and Ed Griffiths agreed to transfer the ownership and insurance proceeds related to the 140-year-old building to Northumberland County contingent upon the county commissioners agreeing to take ownership of the complex and all liabilities. The total insurance money totals $7,964,000.

Commissioner Sam Schiccatano, the only commissioner in attendance with 10 other individuals, thanked the authority members and said it is likely the commissioners will accept the offer at the next public meeting on May 3.

"I'm pretty confident there will be enough votes to accept the prison," Schiccatano said following the meeting.

Clausi, the former commissioner chairman of Northumberland County, urged Schiccatano to keep an eye on the money and make sure it's used toward the prison system.

Victoria Rosancrans, the founder of the Save The Northumberland County Prison group and the chair of Sunbury Old Towne Neighborhood Council, was pleased with the vote.

"At this point, we have to go to the next meeting," she said. "We're moving in the right direction."

Schiccatano said he wants to sit down with those who want to preserve the old prison and city officials to discuss what can be down with the deteriorating castle-like structure.

"We know we want to keep some historical parts," he said. "It will be decided by a host of people, not just the commissioners."

Rosancrans and a few of her group's members will tour the old prison site on April 28.

A fire ravaged the former lock-up on Jan. 14, 2014. Prisoners have been housed at SCI-Coal Township and other county and state facilities in neighboring counties since then.

Earlier this month, the current commissioners announced the abandonment of the Knight-Celotex site in favor of the using the closing Northwestern Academy in Coal Township for the future county prison.

At the end of Wednesday's meeting, Clausi announced he would be resigning from the authority board in June.

Email Justin Strawser at jstrawser@dailyitem.com. Follow him on Twitter

@JustinLStrawser.

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