Oct 20, 2016 4 min read

Let’s say you’re a person who loves the circus. Problem is, the circus isn’t in town all that often. May we suggest an alternative? Try attending a meeting of the South Strabane Township supervisors.

Folks who have watched the seemingly befuddled meanderings of the supervisors recently in their handling of a couple of high-profile economic development proposals must be shaking their heads.

First there’s the case of HCB Foundry, the St. Louis company that owns the Old Mill retail development on Route 19. HCB came to the supervisors with a proposal to develop an unused 12-acre portion of the Old Mill site through construction of a mid-rise apartment complex.

Under township zoning rules, a development such as that is required to have office or retail space on its first floor. HCB noted that for several reasons, retail and office space in that location is not optimal, so it asked the supervisors to waive the requirement.

Cue the circus music.

First, the supervisors denied the request, causing HCB to take the matter to court. Then, HCB came back to the supervisors with a new proposal in an effort to avoid litigation. The company offered to spend $100,000 toward improvements at the intersection of Berry and Manifold roads, a rear access point for Old Mill. HCB sweetened the pot by agreeing to dedicate the first floor of the proposed apartment development to community space, and said it would create green space next to the building for apartment residents.

Said the supervisors: You’ve got a deal.

But wait! (Fire up the band again.) At their next meeting, Supervisors Ed Mazur, Bob Weber and Tom Moore voted to rescind the approval of the settlement with HCB because, upon further consideration, they didn’t think $100,000 was a sufficient contribution for the road project. Is this just a scheme to extract more money from the company? Who knows. Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, the supervisors were busy juggling (badly) a proposal by Chapman Properties to develop its 153 acres adjacent to Tanger Outlets, a plan that includes construction of a $40 million complex for plastics manufacturer Ensinger Inc., which wants to relocate its headquarters from the current site in North Strabane Township. Weber, Moore and Mazur once again stood in the way, citing potential noise, traffic and pollution problems for nearby residents, and their reluctance to have the township assume responsibility for a portion of Tanger Boulevard.

Chapman returned with what its representative called a “very sweet offer,” which included reimbursement for maintenance costs on Tanger Boulevard for the next decade; paying to resurface the road after the first phase of development; paying $160,000 for the purchase of a snowplow truck for the township; and donating an acre for creation of an outdoor recreation area to the neighboring residents of Strabane Manor.

Steve Thomas of Chapman noted currently, the property generates about $180 in real estate tax. When fully developed, the site, he said, would generate $445,000 in annual taxes for the township, more than $1.5 million a year for Trinity Area School District and $350,000 annually for Washington County.

The supervisors came back this week and agreed to the Ensinger project, but the Mazur-Weber-Moore troika blocked the full development, at least in large part because they don’t want to accept responsibility for the road.

“If you do it for one, then you have to do it for all,” said Moore. No, you don’t. Such decisions can, and should, be made on a case-by-case basis, and it seems foolish for these supervisors to spurn such an economically beneficial development over some plowing, patching and paving.

Chapman, like HCB before it, is taking the matter to court, and it’s not certain that Ensinger will follow through with its plan unless the road deal is accepted. In fact, it might move its operations clear out of our area, to New Jersey.

Years ago, Jimmy Breslin wrote a novel with a title that aptly describes the majority supervisors in South Strabane. It’s called “The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight.”