Two local liquor licenses are up for bid in the fourth auction of expired restaurant licenses, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board said this week.
Among the 50 expired licenses up for bid are one in Elk County and one in McKean County.
Information was not available on who had owned the licenses, but the invitation for bids indicates that one is in Johnsonburg and the other in Sergeant Township.
The auction will use a sealed bid process.
Bids are due by noon Nov. 9, and bids will be opened Nov. 16. The minimum bid is $25,000.
The board is taking steps to cut down on “frivolous and underfunded bids,” such as by requiring bids include a $5,000 bid surety.
“The highest responsive bidder for each license will win the right to submit an application for the license to the PLCB within six months of auction award,” the board stated. “If the payment is not received within two weeks of auction award, the second-highest bidder will have the opportunity to apply for the license. Bids will be held in escrow by the PLCB, pending approval of the license application.”
This is the fourth license auction since Act 39 became effective Aug. 8, 2016.
It was Act 39 that allowed, among other things, Pennsylvania residents to have wine shipped directly to their home and to hotels and restaurants to apply for permits to sell wine to go.
That law also granted the board to auction restaurant liquor licenses that expired after 2000.
The invitation for bids can be found at www.emarketplace.state.pa.us/Solicitations.aspx?SID=260328
Questions must be submitted by email to RA-LBLicenseAuction@pa.gov by noon Sept. 26. Questions and answers will be posted by 3 p.m. Sept. 28 to the Department of General Services e-marketplace website.
