Got asked to bid a very unusual project

[MossRoad]

Funny you mention this. Here in PA we have counties, of course, but on a smaller scale we have townships.
Our townships are ”old-school” corruption that everyone just assumes will continue forever.
Like the township supervisor hires friends & relatives to farm township land, or do sub contract work.
Nobody cares.
In a neighboring township, there’s a lot of AG land. In the township by-laws, we were told all township contracting must be re-bid every so many years. I believe it was every 3 years.
So I called the township supervisors office (they know me) and I asked to bid on renting AG land. Their answer was “Tom _______ already does it so we don’t need a bid.“

Township secretary doesn’t even know the most basic township bylaws. Now of course, if I raise the question, I‘d expect my cattle to be let out at 3AM or my tractors to have sand put in their fuel tanks, etc.
This small scale corruption just leads to larger scale corruption in gov____ment.

That's a bummer. We don't have that problem here in the county as far as I know. We have township trustees. That's who's responsible for finding money to tear down abandoned buildings and such out of their budget. Each job is bid on and public record. There are no preferred contractors as far as I know.

Awful story about this building. It was a tavern that closed. Some guy was living in it for years. A child was on the property and fell into a dry well when the lid collapsed and drowned. The guy moved out. The building sat for 20ish more years, slowly falling in on itself. It's been on the township list to be demolished and was supposed to go right before the pandemic hit.

 

[Streetcar]

Funny you mention this. Here in PA we have counties, of course, but on a smaller scale we have townships.
Our townships are ”old-school” corruption that everyone just assumes will continue forever.
Like the township supervisor hires friends & relatives to farm township land, or do sub contract work.
Nobody cares.
In a neighboring township, there’s a lot of AG land. In the township by-laws, we were told all township contracting must be re-bid every so many years. I believe it was every 3 years.
So I called the township supervisors office (they know me) and I asked to bid on renting AG land. Their answer was “Tom _______ already does it so we don’t need a bid.“

Township secretary doesn’t even know the most basic township bylaws. Now of course, if I raise the question, I‘d expect my cattle to be let out at 3AM or my tractors to have sand put in their fuel tanks, etc.
This small scale corruption just leads to larger scale corruption in gov____ment.

How does the township end up owning ag land? Only government owned ag land near me is airport crash zone for cincinnati airport

 

[Hay Dude]

How does the township end up owning ag land? Only government owned ag land near me is airport crash zone for cincinnati airport

They confiscate taxpayer money and buy up open space. They will typically turn part or all of it into a “park“, which may have several acres of fields/farmland

 

[Lineman North Florida]

They confiscate taxpayer money and buy up open space. They will typically turn part or all of it into a “park“, which may have several acres of fields/farmland

We have county's down here and they do the same thing but they try to hide it under the guise of fancy wording such as " Wild spaces in Public places" and the lefty's just un-load all over themselves and actually vote in a 1 cent sales tax to fund it, I live in just such a county.

 

[Hay Dude]

We were forced into a 1% township tax about 20 years ago. Many of us called the township supervisor to complain before it got passed. Some of the more wealthy complainers were told
“What’s the big deal? It’s only 1% of your pay! Come on, you can afford it!”

 

[Chewwy]

I worked briefly in PA. The township where I was living had a 1% income tax, but if your employer was located outside the township, they were not required to withhold it from your pay. You were required to register and pay the tax directly to the township. It kinda made paying the 1% township tax “voluntary.”

 

[Gator6x4]

They confiscate taxpayer money and buy up open space. They will typically turn part or all of it into a “park“, which may have several acres of fields/farmland

How do they confiscate taxpayer money??????

Do they seize Bank Accounts????

Do they collect a workers paycheck???

1933 Act 69

www.legis.state.pa.us

Eminent Domain in Pennsylvania – Part IV, Who Can Condemn | Lamb McErlane PC

March 2021 Legal Intelligencer / Law Weekly article by Lamb McErlane PC attorneys James ‘Jim’ Sargent, Jr., & Katherine ‘Katie’ E. LaDow. Beyond the Commonwealth agencies such as PennDOT and the Turnpike Commission that frequently exercise the power of eminent domain, there are a number of...

www.lambmcerlane.com

Pennsylvania has a law or act called;
"Pennsylvania’s Abandoned and Blighted Property Conservatorship Act"

This Act allow Cities, Towns and Townships to utilize Eminent Dominion to acquire Abandoned and Blighted Properties.

https://www.rhls.org/documents/ConservatorshipManual_Final_05102011.pdf

 

[Streetcar]

When does your project bid?

 

[Hay Dude]

When does your project bid?

I’m meeting with them early next week for initial walk through and to set up a list of expectations.
Might try to do it in spring, but I think it’ll be too mushy.

 

[crashz]

I didn’t read the entire thread, so I’m sorry if I’m repeating some info.

Even if this work is through the local conservation commission or state environmental agency, you need a dredge permit through the US Army Corps of Engineers. That is definitely a navigable waterway.