Packerton Yards will remain in Carbon County's possession for now.

On Thursday, George Petrole, CEO of Northface Development in Palmerton, who submitted a written offer to purchase the former rail yard that straddles Mahoning Township and Lehighton, withdrew his offer after he asked the commissioners if they have decided to sell the land yet.Commissioners' Chairman Wayne Nothstein said that the board did not make a decision and wasn't sure when a decision would be rendered.Petrole asked the county to return the check he sent and to take his offer off the table.Following the meeting, the commissioners discussed the property at length, saying that maybe keeping it now instead of selling it was the right decision."I think right now, it is in our best interest to keep Packerton," Commissioner Thomas J. Gerhard said. "It's been a controversial property for many years. Yes, $300,000 sounds like a lot of money to some people, but to us, it's not."It's no secret when Wayne and I ran that we said we wanted to sell Packerton Yards, but as time progressed, things changed," Gerhard added."Right now we do have a verbal offer with another party and we're going to explore that avenue. Whether we want to sell to them or not, that remains to be seen."Commissioner William O'Gurek shared Gerhard's thoughts: "I am not in favor of selling Packerton Yards."I have a belief that this property has more value in the county's ownership than someone else's at this time," he added.He said the county is working to construct a pedestrian bridge to connect the D&L Trail, meaning that more tourists and hikers and bikers would be utilizing the trail adjacent to the yards.O'Gurek also suggested the possibility of using that property for recreation or maybe solar panels to generate electricity if that area receives enough sunlight.Nothstein, who stayed mum on his position on selling or keeping the property said."If the right business comes along, then we will talk about it."We want to make sure the public is going to be happy with what we do with it," he added.The commissioners shared concerns about Petrole possibly using regulated fill to remediate the property, even though they noted that he said he would abide by using clean fill.The reason for the concerns remains the location of the land to the Lehigh River."I'm very big on the environment," Gerhard said, adding that he wants to explore all the options possible for the property, and weighing the options of selling or keeping it.O'Gurek saidthe commissioners have slowed down on selling the property because once the county relinquishes control, it can't control the use of the land. Past suggestions have included a garbage transfer station in that area."There is a way to stop something like that now because we own it," he said.The history of Packerton Yards dates back over a decade when the county purchased the property from Joseph and Elizabeth Zaprazny for $352,576.25.At that time, commissioners were O'Gurek, Nothstein and Charles Getz.Nothstein cast the sole "no" vote for the purchase.Over the course of the next eight years, the county spent $1.54 million on the property. Expenses included land appraisals, engineering fees, environmental studies, well drilling, building demolition, easements, consultant services, legal services and land development.Of that $1.5 million, the county received $621,700 in reimbursements from state and federal grants to help offset the costs. The county also secured nearly $5 million in other state and federal grants for the industrialization of the land once all roadblocks were cleared.But Mahoning Township denied the project, and the supervisors' decision was upheld in both Carbon County Court of Common Pleas and Commonwealth Court.These decisions effectively ended the project.Nearly all of the $5 million was returned because it could not be transferred to other uses within the county.On Thursday, the commissioners said that no matter what the county's final decision is on the land, either they or the new owner of the land will have hurdles to overcome with developing it because of Mahoning Township.