By RANDY BARTLEY
Staff writer
The All American Plaza previously known as the Keystone 76 truck stop at Interstate 80 Exit 70 in Clarion Township — will be included in a June 29 judicial tax sale.
Clarion County Legal Counsel Christy Logue said once property is delinquent for two years, it is advertised and put up for tax sale.
If the property is sold, the purchaser is responsible for paying all back taxes associated with the land, as well as any mortgages, judgments and liens for the bidder.
If the property doesn’t sell, it is exposed to the judicial sale, which is free and clear of back taxes, mortgages, judgments and liens.
The Clarion County Tax Claim office holds tax sales once a year for properties that are two years delinquent on taxes. This is done to recoup lost tax dollars. No taxes have been paid on the property for the past 12 years.
Opened in the 1970s, the All American Plaza near has been closed for nearly a decade. The site has been approved for an Industrial Site Reuse Program grant from the Pennsylvania DEP.
The site at the Strattanville exit on Interstate 80 is a 63.9 acres and contains a masonry-panel 16,650 square foot two-story multi-purpose rest area, amenities (showers) and a 5,925 square foot garage facility.
The sale will begin at 10 a.m. June 29 in Courtroom One at the Clarion County Courthouse.
While property sold at a judicial is sold free or any liens, meaning the buyer is not responsible for any debts connected to the land, any potential buyer will inherit an extensive list of expensive problems with the site itself.
One of the most outstanding problems could be with the numerous underground fuel storage tanks still on the property.
Another problem is the deteriorating truck stop building itself the roof of the building reportedly has in spots collapsed and the interior throughout the building, which also housed a popular restaurant, has suffered water and weather damage.
The state Department of Environmental Protection is aware of the former truck stop.
“The former Keystone 76 facility is a closed truck stop and service area with seven registered underground storage tanks which have been temporarily out of service since 2008,” said Tom Decker, DEP community relations director. “The tanks are still in in place and will need to be permanently closed or put back into service in accordance with the storage tank regulations.”
Decker said DEP’s involvement began long before the truck stop closed.
“Investigation and cleanup activities began in 1991and were completed in2002, when DEP approved a Remedial Action Completion Report,” said decker. “If the tanks are ever removed, soil and groundwater will be assessed to determine if a release from the tanks has occurred.”
Decker said the DEP Dec. 27, 2019, approved a “scope of work” submitted by Environmental Remediation & Recovery, Inc. on behalf of Clarion County Economic Development Corporation, to conduct a Phase I Environmental Assessment and Limited Phase II subsurface investigation to evaluate groundwater and soil.