Nehls suggests giving amphitheater property back to state
Characterizing a plan to turn the Great Meadows Amphitheater into a movie production and tourist facility as “probably down the tubes,” Fayette County Commissioner Ronald M. Nehls suggested Tuesday that the county give 122 acres back to the state. With conservation-minded Act 70 deed restrictions essentially putting a stranglehold on the commissioners’ ability to put that acreage to productive use – and with no state legislator willing to sponsor the required legislation – Nehls put forth the giveback plan.
“If those deed restrictions are not going to be lifted, I’d just as soon give that facility back to the state,” said Nehls, who served as the county’s point man in a two-year negotiation with Fayette Films LLC that progressed at a snail’s pace because of state-level bureaucratic requirements.
When Commissioner Sean M. Cavanagh suggested that the National Park Service, which owns nearby Fort Necessity National Battlefield, might have an interest in the Wharton Township site, Nehls countered that he thinks that’s been the park service’s aim all along.
With the Fayette Films deal dead in the water, Cavanagh injected some levity into the discussion, mixing the oft-stated desire to put the site to use with a contemporary political issue.
“Why don’t we put our own racetrack in and have slot machines? We could be the richest county in the state,” said Cavanagh.
Nehls, making light of one of Fort Necessity Superintendent Joanne Hanley’s concerns about the film studio proposal, quipped, “As long as the buildings aren’t over 50 feet (tall), we probably could do that.”
Chairman Vincent A. Vicites lamented the fact that the site wasn’t selected a few years back for a national veterans cemetery. Vicites said that the cemetery would have been a perfect use for the property, which surrounds a smaller 6.1-acre tract on which the long-dormant amphitheater sits.
Vicites said he doubted that anyone would have objected to the veterans cemetery, prompting Nehls to counter, “I think that if we held church services up there, we might get people who object to it.”
County manager Warren Hughes said that since Fayette Films is approximately three months behind on the $3,600-a-month lease it signed for the 6.1-acre tract, the county as property owner is back in control of that parcel.
Fayette Films had signed that lease last fall, making its plan contingent on passage of state legislation that would lift the deed restrictions on the larger parcel. When that didn’t occur in a timely fashion, company president Jason Thomas said the deal was off.
Thomas confirmed Tuesday that his firm has moved on and is currently working on a location in Virginia where the land and buildings were donated. Thomas said his company “lost millions” waiting for state action and could not afford further delays.
In other matters handled at Tuesday’s agenda meeting, the commissioners agreed to vote Thursday on:
? Adjusting downward the yearly fee paid to Resource Technologies Corp. of State College for monitoring mineral assessments. Chief assessor James A. Hercik, CPE, said a recent state Supreme Court ruling that exempted oil and natural gas from taxation was the impetus for the change.
“We’ll only be monitoring coal and stone for mineral assessments (now),” said Hercik, who proposed halving the contract amount from $12,000 to $6,000. Cavanagh suggested that the county not accept RTC’s initial figure and that Hercik engage in further negotiations to lower the price, particularly since the county only has five stone quarries and hardly any coal mining activity.
Cavanagh also suggested that the county perform the mineral assessments in-house, which Hercik said could be done if the county buys RTC’s database of information.
??Approving a new three-year contract with the Service Employees International Union, Local 668. The agreement will cover years 2003, 2004 and 2005. Cavanagh said that contrary to courthouse rumors, nobody was holding up formal ratification of the agreement, which covers workers in the county’s largest employee union.
??Approving a grant application that, if successful, would provide overtime and training funds for the Citizens Emergency Response Team that operates under Sheriff Gary D. Brownfield. Tammy Shell, director of the county office of Planning, Zoning and Community Development, said the team performs functions related to homeland security and illegal drug activity.
Nehls said that while he could support the grant application, which has a June 13 deadline, some major issues including county-level liability insurance must be resolved. Nehls said he has an “enormous concern” on the insurance front and won’t vote in favor unless that problem is solved.
Cavanagh voted against putting the item on Thursday’s agenda, citing his unwillingness to provide a 25-percent county match on what amounts to an open-ended proposal. “Twenty-five percent of what?” asked Cavanagh, who added that he won’t shoulder taxpayers with such an unspecified burden, particularly with so many other law enforcement entities involved in such matters.
Vicites said that he supports the team operated under Brownfield, and suggested that the insurance premium might provide or go a long way toward meeting the needed 25-percent match.