PRINTER'S NO. 3185
No. 2525 Session of 1994
INTRODUCED BY STAIRS, TRELLO, MERRY, HENNESSEY AND E. Z. TAYLOR,
FEBRUARY 2, 1994
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT, FEBRUARY 2, 1994
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of July 9, 1959 (P.L.510, No.137), entitled, as
2 amended, "An act relating to the public lands of the
3 Commonwealth; defining such land; providing for the sale of
4 vacant and unimproved public lands and the price to be paid
5 therefor; providing for the conveyance of title to vacant and
6 unappropriated public land to the Department of Forests and
7 Waters for forest culture, forest reservation, or State park
8 purposes; providing for the conveyance of title to all public
9 lands for which applications have been made or warrants
10 issued and to all persons having rights by settlement and
11 improvement upon payment of the purchase price; providing for
12 the release of liens for unpaid purchase price in certain
13 cases; preventing the granting of title to lands and islands
14 in the bed of navigable rivers and streams declared by law to
15 be public highways except in certain cases; and prescribing
16 the duties of the Department of Community Affairs with
17 respect to the administration of the public lands and the
18 records thereof, including surveys of county and Commonwealth
19 boundaries and documents having to do with early titles,"
20 providing for appraisal fees.
21 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
22 hereby enacts as follows:
23 Section 1. Section 8 of the act of July 9, 1959 (P.L.510,
24 No.137), known as the Pennsylvania Public Lands Act, is amended
25 to read:
26 Section 8. Board of Appraisers.--Upon application for vacant
1 land, the land shall be appraised by a board of appraisers,
2 comprising three disinterested persons appointed by the
3 department, who are residents of the county or counties wherein
4 the land is situate, of whom one shall be an attorney at law who
5 shall act as chairman, one a registered professional engineer,
6 and one a licensed real estate broker.
7 The person so appointed shall swear or affirm, before an
8 officer authorized to administer oaths, faithfully to perform
9 the duties herein prescribed, and that they are not directly or
10 indirectly interested in the application. They shall proceed to
11 value the land by going upon it and taking into consideration
12 soil, timber, fisheries, minerals, location and other
13 advantages, and shall determine the value thereof. In the case
14 of improved land, the value of the improvements shall not be
15 included in the valuation. The chairman of the board shall
16 prepare and transmit the report of the board to the department.
17 Having agreed upon the valuation, the chairman shall certify the
18 same to the department in his report within thirty days after
19 the appointment of the board. If any of the board of appraisers
20 so appointed shall fail, neglect or refuse to perform any of
21 their duties within thirty days of their appointment, the
22 department may vacate the appointment and appoint another board
23 of appraisers to perform the work in the same manner as the
24 original board. The members of the board shall be entitled to a
25 fee [of twenty-five dollars ($25.00) each and the chairman shall
26 receive an additional twenty-five dollars ($25.00) for the
27 preparation of the report] in an amount as agreed upon by the
28 Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, the board of
29 appraisers and the applicant.
30 Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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