Mercer officials OK purchase of 218 acres for development

One goal of commissioners has been to make land
available for economic development.

MERCER, Pa. — Mercer County commissioners agreed Thursday to buy 218 acres off Pa. Route 19 at Interstate 80 in Lackawannock Township for economic development.

The property is behind the old Howard Johnson’s restaurant. The purchase will be made with $704,924 from the county Economic Development fund, which comes from 0.25 mills assessed county taxpayers each year since 2005. That fund brings in $255,000 annually and currently has about $800,000.

Commissioner Brian Beader said that there have been talks with Aqua of Pennsylvania and that extending water lines to the property “won’t be a problem.” He added construction of sewers will be expensive, but commissioners are looking at several strategies to do so.

One goal of commissioners has been to make land available for economic development. Beader said the county keeps losing businesses because it doesn’t have acreage that is “shovel ready.”

He said this acreage will be developed and offered, possibly for sale or other arrangement, to companies willing to invest in the county. Commissioner Olivia Lazor said portions of the acreage will likely be sold to businesses and the proceeds put into a revolving fund to be used for more development.

She commented that commissioners have tried to help businesses willing to locate here, for example, giving seven years of tax breaks to Prime Outlets. But she said the reason the county lost the Cabelas outdoor store in the late 1990s was that it did not have suitable acreage. That store later located in Wheeling, W.Va.

Commissioners said they have been negotiating for the property for a year and signed an option agreement last summer but did not announce they were interested in the property for fear of driving up the price. The sale will take a while to complete because of numerous owners who are scattered all over the world, commissioners said.

Commissioners also finalized a $50,000 grant award to Deerfield Farms Inc. of New Wilmington to be used toward construction of more than $1 million worth of grain bins at a location they hope to develop on Auction Road in Wilmington Township. Lazor insisted that wording be added to make the grant contingent on Deerfield’s actually acquiring the property and operating the business there. The land where Deerfield hopes to locate is currently involved in a zoning dispute.

Vivian Moon of Findley Township objected to the grant, stating public money should not be given to a private business, and she suggested the money be loaned, not given to the business. Commissioner-elect Kenneth Amman agreed that taxpayers cannot afford to support private businesses.

Deerfield Farms President Bill Wallbrown said the business is dedicated to farmers and does everything possible to help them get their grain out of the field. The business offers agronomy services and crop fertilizers and supplies, as well as buying grain from farmers, conditioning it and selling it to end users or brokers, he said.

Also Thursday, commissioners gave final approval to a 2008 county budget that keeps taxes at the same level, the third consecutive year there will be no increase in county real estate taxes.

The general fund of $26.6 million shows a 3.3 percent increase in costs over 2007 and a $1.2 million shortfall, which will be made up with surplus funds from previous years.

Commissioners said that the county’s share of mandated services is gradually rising because of federal and state cutbacks. For 2008, Commissioner Brian Beader said, the county’s share of Juvenile Probation costs will increase by $330,000, while its share of Children and Youth Services costs will rise $220,000 and Domestic Relations will jump by $125,000.