Near the end of Monday’s Tyrone Borough Council meeting, Director of Administration Phyllis Garhart alerted council to decisions that need to be made regarding the potential uses for upcoming CDBG money. One of those uses is a contribution to the Altoona Blair County Development Corporation.
According to Garhart, the borough has been making the $6,000 contribution since 1996 as one of the approved activities for CDBG funding through the state Department of Community and Economic Development.
Last month, the borough held a public hearing which was intended to notify the public the process has started and to give residents the opportunity to comment. In addition, residents have the opportunity to comment by telephone and by written comment in the mail. A second hearing is scheduled for Feb. 19 at 3 p.m. at the Tyrone Borough Municipal Building.
Prior to the next hearing, the borough must decide on proposed uses for the funds and advertise the information explained Garhart. This sparked a lengthy debate on how the money should be used although no final decisions were made council gave her a pretty good idea which direction they wanted to take regarding an expected $134,000 in funding. The exact allocation is not yet known due to the federal budget process.
“Seventy five percent of the funds will be set aside for our public facility effort including infrastructure for the Washington Avenue project with the balance of the funding going to ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) issues,” stated Garhart after the meeting. “The ABCD matter has been tabled until next week.”
Councilman J. R. Watson spoke at length about his concern the non-profit organization may not be serving the best interests of the borough.
“I believe there is a conflict of interest. They (ABCD) own parks or facilities in the county, and I believe they market sometimes towards their own facilities than they do facilities such as the Dixon industrial park,” said Watson.
“I just don’t know if its in the best interest of the borough to use the $6,000 for it. I just don’t know if we are getting the best bank for our buck with ABCD,” Watson told The Daily Herald.
According to its Web site, ABCD is designed to promoting business growth through enterprise zones, training programs, and other factors. During the debate, it was pointed out other boroughs and townships throughout the county contribute funding to ABCD.
Council members and borough administrative officials also questioned whether the borough would receive any transfer taxes when the BCDC eventually turns control of the mill over to Team Ten. Garhart indicated there would be no transfer tax coming to the borough at which point solicitor Larry Clapper indicated he planned to investigate the matter further.
By the end of the meeting, Borough Manager Nathan George was instructed to invite officials from ABCD to attend next week’s meeting to offer their opinions before council decides on the issue of continuing the $6,000 contribution to the economic facilitator.
