Letter spurs commissioner to question allocation of $400,000
Responding to a letter to the editor from the chairman of Uniontown’s O.C. Cluss Lumber Co., Fayette County Commissioner Ronald M. Nehls is questioning how much a $400,000 county contribution will directly benefit Home Depot, a potential Cluss competitor. The other two commissioners say they took action to spur economic development on the former county home property near Uniontown Mall, giving a boost to the Fayette County Redevelopment Authority and not to any private developer.
While admitting that he’s “not sure” where the $400,000 economic development contribution approved by Commissioners Vincent A. Vicites and Sean M. Cavanagh will end up, Nehls said he would like some clarification in order to “appease” Cluss.
“Mr. Cluss is a little upset. I want to try to appease that by saying that no agreement is in place yet,” said Nehls. “I have a lot of questions. I’m not sure what all of this means.”
In his letter, Cluss noted that his 85-year-old company has never “asked for, or received, any subsidy from Fayette County or South Union Township.” Cluss also said that while his firm has no problem competing with Home Depot on a level playing field, local government support of the national chain is a “slap in the face” to his company and other local merchants.
Nehls said that if the county money goes to the county redevelopment authority, which is developing a business park off of New Salem Road, he has no problem with the contribution.
“If we’re giving it to the redevelopment authority, I’m all for that,” said Nehls.
But if the check is being cut to Home Depot or private developer Widewaters Uniontown Co., LLC, for development on the other side of the road, Nehls said he objects on the grounds that public money shouldn’t be used for private development.
“The resolution says that we’re giving $400,000, but it doesn’t say to whom,” said Nehls, who theorized, “We don’t know where that money’s going.”
However, Cavanagh and Vicites said they know exactly where the county’s contribution is going: to extend Matthew Drive into the county’s business park and create a four-way intersection on New Salem Road to make that linkup possible.
Cavanagh and Vicites said they’ve attended numerous meetings over the past two years in an economic development partnership with Widewaters, the redevelopment authority, PennDOT and South Union Township. The goal of that well-publicized effort, they said, was to find a way to open up the entire New Salem Road corridor to development, which includes the Widewaters/Home Depot project on one side of the road and the county business park on the other.
“I know where (the money’s) going,” said Cavanagh. “It’s going to be a check made out to the redevelopment authority, PennDOT or South Union Township… The bottom line is the county is investing in growth. If that means upgrading roads, highways, sewage and water (system), we’re going to do that.”
Cavanagh: No ‘corporate welfare’
Cavanagh said it’s “ridiculous” for Nehls to suggest that county money has been earmarked for “corporate welfare” in the form of direct subsidy to Home Depot or Widewaters. He added that Nehls has “only gone to a couple” of the partnership meetings and thus might not fully understand the project.
Although Nehls said he is concerned that some “poorly worded” language in the approved resolution may be fueling his confusion, Vicites countered that the wording of the motion clearly stated that the county money was “to construct the extension of Matthew Drive” into the county park.
“It’s in the exact language that appeared on the agenda,” said Vicites. “I think that clarifies it … my full intention was to invest in our property by the extension of Matthew Drive.
“In my mind, there’s no way any of that $400,000 was going to be invested in anything other than our property. I would not have voted for it otherwise.”
Vicites added that he believes the county contribution will be sent to the redevelopment authority, which owns and is developing the park at the commissioners’ behest. “Who else is going to build the road on our land?” asked Vicites.
Nehls was tied up in court testimony and did not attend the special meeting vote where Cavanagh and Vicites approved the contribution. Nehls said Friday that, to a lesser extent, he has questions regarding Widewaters’ donation to the county of a sliver of land on the county-park side of New Salem Road.
Nehls said that the county code requires “proper appraisals” for any real estate transaction. “I’m just questioning whether this thing is really worth the paper that it’s written on, or did we do something that isn’t correct?” asked Nehls. “Maybe we as commissioners need a little more detail on this thing. Maybe we’re a little ahead of ourselves.”
Vicites said this situation was different in that an entity, in this case Widewaters, was donating land to the county at no cost. Since the county wasn’t purchasing or selling land, Vicites said appraisals weren’t an issue.
“I’m just grateful that they’re willing to donate it to us,” said Vicites. “We would have to have that land in order to open up the extension of Matthew Drive (via a four-way intersection on New Salem Road).”
Schiffbauer: Pot of money to aid project
South Union Township Supervisor Robert Schiffbauer, who has been intimately involved in the partnership negotiations, said the county’s contribution is part of a $1.5 to $1.7 million pot of money pledged by the partners to upgrade the highway system so the area can handle further development.
“The money is not being used to help a (specific) developer. The money is being used to help make development occur,” said Schiffbauer. “This is done all over Pennsylvania and the United States.
“If you have to break it down and identify it, the county’s $400,000 is going for improvements to the intersection of New Salem Road and Matthew Drive, and the extension of Matthew Drive into the county (business) park.”
No one is writing a check to a private developer, said Schiffbauer, who noted that all of the partners’ money would go to specific highway improvement projects. “If (Nehls) wants us to, we will identify them (by funding source) in the agreement,” he added.
Schiffbauer said control of the pot of money would rest either with South Union Township or with the county redevelopment authority. He said that the county is lucky that Widewaters donated the small but necessary sliver of land.
“If the county had to buy that piece of property (for access into its park), Lord knows what the price would be,” said Schiffbauer.
Cavanagh said that he smells election-year politics in the air with the sudden questioning of a vital economic development project that is otherwise shaping up as a hard-fought success.
“It seems to me that people are scrambling for issues to get re-elected now,” said Cavanagh. “We are trying to work on a mega-development to ease traffic, to enhance the roadways and to bring economic development to property in South Union Township.
“There are people in this county who would have you believe we should be isolationists; that bringing a Home Depot to Fayette County is bad. To that, I say hogwash. If that’s the case, we’d have to get rid of McDonald’s, KFC, Wal-Mart, Kmart and so on.”
Cavanagh said that U.S. Rep. John Murtha (D-Johnstown), with whom he’s developed a good working relationship, is poised to make an important announcement regarding the county business park.
“Congressman Murtha realizes that this is the central hub of shopping (in the county),” said Cavanagh. “That’s why he will be bringing money in the very near future for this project … This is where the companies from outside the county want to be; this is where the traffic is and it’s where people congregate and shop.
“The demand is being created by outside forces, not inside forces. When you go deer hunting, you go where the deer are. When you go shopping, you go where the stores are.”