Sale of Sunnyview nursing facility could pay for district judge, county offices

Published: Saturday, May 24, 2014, 3:28p.m.

Commission Chairman Bill McCarrier has proposed using proceeds from the sale of the Sunnyview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center to pay for construction of a county office building, costing about $12.1 million, and a district judge office in Cranberry, which should cost about $1 million.

It's the first time that McCarrier has said how he would like to use the proceeds. Earlier, McCarrier said commissioners hadn't decided how to pay for the building projects.

The proposal is tentative because commissioners don't know exactly how much they'll clear from the Sunnyview sale, which closed May 15. The buyer, Investment 360 of Lakewood, N.J., took control of the facility May 18.

County Controller Ben Holland praised the idea of not taking on additional debt.

I've said this all along, I believe that the county will have enough from the sale of Sunnyview to do those two projects, Holland said.

He added, People were very critical of the sale of Sunnyview, but with the office building, they'll have a tangible, physical sign of government spending. At the end of the day, they sold an asset, but built something.

I think it will resonate well with the taxpayers.

Some costs associated with the sale of Sunnyview have yet to be determined, commissioners said, including how much unemployment insurance the county may have to pay furloughed employees, along with a final accounting of accumulated sick and vacation time due employees.

Investment 360 laid off about two dozen people, commissioners said, including several nurses, housekeepers and others.

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Sale of Sunnyview nursing facility could pay for district judge, county offices