Lincoln Beach property awarded to Upper Burrell neighbors group

Vacant property in Upper Burrell’s Lincoln Beach neighborhood will end up staying with neighbors.

The Upper Burrell Supervisors on Wednesday awarded roughly 3 acres of land along Mosaic Boulevard in Lincoln Beach to “members of the Lincoln Beach community.”

A $20,000 bid was submitted by the group that, in their bid letter, identified themselves as a group of family, friends and property owners of Lincoln Beach. A spokesman for the group, Milton Pitts of Arnold, said he didn’t have a number of how many people were in the group.

“The purpose for purchasing this property would be to use it as it was used in the past, as a community park for basketball, softball, picnics,” the letter said. “It would also be used for community functions and family events, such as birthday parties, graduation parties, family reunions.

“We want it to be a fun and safe place to gather.”

The township decided to sell the land because, according to Supervisors Chairman Ross G. Walker III, the township wasn’t doing anything with the property.

“We wanted to get it off to someone who may be able to do something with it that would benefit the community that it’s in, and the township in general,” he said.

Pitts said the group bid on the land so it could stay among the residents of Lincoln Beach.

“I’d like to get the township to fix the road so we can have community events,” Pitts said. “That’s why we bought it: to preserve the heritage of Lincoln Beach.”

Upper Burrell will retain mineral rights. About two-thirds of the property is wooded, and the rest is a field.

The minimum bid was set at $6,000, as determined by a professional appraisal.

The township got three other bids for the land — Keitha White of Upper Burrell submitted a $7,000 bid; Erik van de Venne of Murrysville submitted an $8,700 bid; and Brock White of Upper Burrell bid $14,101.01.

Walker said former Westmoreland County sheriff Fred Broad laid out Lincoln Beach in the 1920s. Broad sold every piece of property except for what was bid on Wednesday.

“This particular piece, if you look at the old map, there was supposed to be a hospital for Lincoln Beach and their residents,” Walker said. “It’s a fascinating story about Lincoln Beach. So this is a piece that the township had inherited because it never sold, and now we’re selling it.”

The Rev. James Moore questioned the township’s decision to put the properties out for bid.

“How is it, that you’re going to take property from Lincoln Beach, and sell it?” Moore said. “… What you’re doing is wrong.”

Walker said the township had previously discussed offering the property to Moore, but those plans never came to fruition. He defended the township’s decision to put the land out for bid.

“We gave him a fair shake,” Walker said. “The township offered it to him, but he didn’t take us up on it.”

Asked if the township would sell another property it owns off Milligantown Road, Walker said it might.