A State College-based business looking to expand has been considering a move to Blair County for several years. Recently, the choices have narrowed to three possible locations in the county.
\n Although no final decision has been made, two of the locations are located just miles from each other in Tyrone and Antis Township respectively. The third possibility is in the I-99 Enterprise Campus.
\nThe issue of where Balfurd Cleaners would relocate came up at the recent Tyrone Borough Council meeting. Patrick Miller of Altoona Blair County Development Corporation (ABCD) was addressing the meeting when Councilman Bill Fink raised some concerns. Fink wondered if Tyrone was being fairly considered and promoted for the relocation of the cleaners and other industries which might chose another location over Tyrone.
\nMiller was on hand to help the borough justify its $6,000 donation to ABCD each year. The money is part of $60,000 contributed to ABCD to help pay for administrative costs associated with being a part of the I-99 Enterprise Zone.
\n\u201cI think ABCD is stretching themselves thin. They are at the edge of a razor blade,\u201d Fink told The Daily Herald. \u201cWe are paying $6,000 a year for what? We hear all the bells and whistles and the money. But, what is the bang for the buck we\u2019re getting.\u201d
\nA number of other council members expressed similar concerns at a previous meeting. Eventually, council tentatively decided to continue the $6,000 donation by designating it as one of the potential uses for CDBG money.
\nABCD is involved as a facilitator with the possible relocation of Balfurd and bringing other business to Blair County. Some council members thought it was a conflict on interest since ABCD also owns property which business owners consider for location.
\n\u201cThis comes down to an issue of water. We have a rule in this town that we won\u2019t let you dig a well,\u201d said Fink. He had explained it was his understanding Balfurd was interested in a well for water it needs for its operations.
\n\u201cWe have water flying out of the mountain which is pouring out of a pipe down over the bank into Bald Eagle Creek. Other industries in the community have resources to be good community partners and those industries need to step up and become team players,\u201d according to Fink.
\n\u201cWe have an industry with water in every direction. Even when it was at full speed, the mill didn\u2019t use all the water it had access to,\u201d said Fink.
\nRecently, Balfurd Cleaners inquired about subdivision and land development ordinances in Antis Township according to Township Manager Jeff Ziegler.
\n\u201cThey are doing a hydrology study to see if they can have a well for at least some aspect of their business (if they chose the Ardie J. Dillen Industrial Park),\u201d said Ziegler.
\nDuring the Tyrone Borough Council meeting there was some environmental concerns expressed by ABCD\u2019s Miller regarding Balfurd\u2019s using a well at the Antis Township site. However, Ziegler indicated it wouldn\u2019t encroach on the wetlands in the area.
\n\u201cThe building in Antis Township looks like it will suit our needs,\u201d said Bob Fogelsanger, president of Balfurd Cleaners. \u201cThis will allow us to have our production facility under one roof.\u201d
\nThe plan would have Balfurd move into an existing building which the company would expand for its purposes.
\nFogelsanger stated Tyrone Borough rules against the creation of a well was not a deal breaker which would prevent it from locating to the Tyrone Industrial Park. However, it is something the company is hopeful of obtaining for its needs. Fogelsanger also wanted to stress no final decision\u2019s been made on the relocation site. The use of an existing building seems to be even a higher priority for the company according to several of the parties dealing with the issue.
\n Even when a site is chosen, the municipality involved would have to approve plans and have their governing body such as borough council or board of supervisors sign off on the deal.
\nThe company would employ about 70 people with 25 staying in State College to run the stores. Fogelsanger indicated some current employees wouldn\u2019t make the drive or consider relocation so there would be employment opportunities in Blair County.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A State College-based business looking to expand has been considering a move to Blair County for several years. Recently, the choices have narrowed to three possible locations in the county. Although no final decision has been made, two of the locations are located just miles from each other in Tyrone and Antis Township respectively. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news-in-the-tyrone-pennsylvania-area"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45106\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}