City of New Castle, PA Article 199 City-County Cooperative Agreements

§ 199.01 Blight reduction and property maintenance agreement.

[Ord. 7041, passed 2-28-1991]

(a) The conditions of the Agreement to be entered into between the City and the County of Lawrence are generally as follows:

(1) The County shall include in the budget for the Lawrence County Tax Claim Bureau a line item under administrative expenses for the purpose of assisting the City with grass cutting, the purchase of minor equipment, boarding and securing properties, and the demolition cost for properties which have been exposed to delinquent tax sale, but which have not been purchased at either delinquent tax sale or the judicial tax sale when the City is prohibited from using State or Federal funds available for the demolition of such properties.

(2) On a case by case basis, the City shall request the County Commissioners to release to the City a certain sum of money to assist the City in the demolition of properties held by the Lawrence County Tax Claim Bureau.

(3) The City shall be responsible for the administration of the grass cutting program and the demolition program, including, the letting of bids, the review of bids and awarding of contracts for the demolition of the subject properties.

(4) The City shall use any Federal and State moneys as are available for demolition purposes before the County shall contribute funds toward the cost of such demolition.

(5) The County agrees, when City staff is unavailable, to assist the City in securing the properties, by way of supplying manpower to board up, on a temporary basis, abandoned properties. In each situation, the City would be responsible for the purchase of the materials.

(6) The City and County agree that each municipality shall be responsible for provision of worker's compensation insurance coverage on its respective employees.

(7) Each of the parties hereto agrees to indemnify, and to hold the other harmless, from any liability resulting from any negligence, or alleged negligence, in the operation and conduct of demolition projects pursuant to this Agreement.

(b) Duration. This Agreement shall continue until terminated by either party hereto upon 90 days' prior written notice given to the other party, sent by registered mail.

(c) Purpose and objectives. The purpose and objective of the Agreement is for the County of Lawrence to assist the City, in combating the problem of blight and decay arising from the disrepair and lack of maintenance on properties held by the Lawrence County Tax Claim Bureau.

§ 199.02 Demolition agreement.

[Ord. 8153, passed 9-10-2015]

(a) The conditions of the Agreement to be entered into between the City and the County of Lawrence are generally as follows:

(1) The County will submit to the City a list of all County-owned properties upon which dilapidated structures are located.

(2) These properties designated may be located anywhere within the County, including, but not limited to within the City.

(3) The City will add these County owned properties to their non-CDBG (community development block grant) funded demolition list only. County properties submitted to the City shall have no greater priority for demolition than City properties listed for demolition. The County acknowledges that the City's past and expected future practice in relation to demolitions not funded by CDBG funds is to go out to bid for demolitions if there is available funding for demolitions, typically once per year. The City makes no representations or guarantees as to the time frame for demolition of those County properties submitted to the City for inclusion on its demolition list. The County acknowledges and agrees that if the City does not go out to bid on its own demolition list due to lack of funding or for any other reason, the City shall have no independent obligation to bid the County properties for demolition.

(4) The City will use their established practice to find fully qualified and insured demolition contractors to demolish the structures on the list.

(5) The City will have sole discretion to determine the lowest responsible bidder, but shall provide to the County all documentation regarding insurance, bonding etc.

(6) The County will be responsible to pay for the cost of all of the structures demolished on County owned property, and any related costs, including, but not limited to, the costs associated with use of the City Engineer in preparing specification to go out to bid and costs of advertising notice of demolition, if applicable.

(7) The City will incur no additional costs as a result of demolition of County owned properties on the list.

(8) The contractor selected by the City shall, if possible, bill the County directly for all County owned structures demolished.

(9) To the extent additional costs are incurred, such as costs associated with the City Engineer or for advertising, the County agrees to reimburse the City for those costs and/or pay those costs directly to the vendor, as the City may direct.

(10) If any unforeseen expenses arise that are arguably not covered by the demolition agreement or if such coverage by the agreement is disputed, the County shall be immediately notified of this issue, before any action is taken that will incur additional expense, except in case of extreme emergency.

(11) The County agrees that it will only submit to the City for demolition those properties in which the County has the right and legal basis to demolish, and further agrees to defend, indemnify and hold harmless City from any and all claims, liabilities, costs, suits, causes of action, or otherwise, in relation to the right or legal basis upon which any such properties are demolished.

(b) Duration. This Agreement shall continue until terminated by either party upon 90 days' prior written notice to the other party, sent by registered or certified mail.

(c) Purpose and objectives. The purpose and objective of this Agreement is for the City to assist the County of Lawrence in the bidding and demolition of County owned or County maintained properties within the County of Lawrence, both within and outside of the City of New Castle, to combat the problem of blighted, decayed, and unsafe structures in the community.

(d) Employees/Entity Statement. This Agreement does not require and does not create, a separate entity for the fulfillment of its objectives; but nevertheless, the City shall be empowered to enter into any contracts as enumerated in 53 Pa.C.S.A. 2307(7), as the case may be.

(e) Effective date. This Section 199.02 shall become effective September 30, 2015.

(f) Conflict with existing ordinances. If any provision of this Section 199.02 or the Agreement contemplated by this Section 199.02 conflicts with existing Section 199.01, the provisions of Section 199.01 shall supersede the conflicting provision and the conflicting provision shall have no force or effect.