A heated debate occurred between Belmont County Commissioners and those questioning the budget of the Port Authority and the commission's commitment to that department and the County Improvement Corporation /Department of Development.
People packed the Belmont County Commissioner's meeting room last Wednesday, July 28, many in support of Port Authority Director Larry Merry.
Port Authority Board President Marty Gould questioned why the department's annual budget was cut to $75,000. Figures provided by the board showed that the port authority's annual budget declined from $253,300 in 2007 to $226,650 in 2008 and was $109,035 in 2009.
Commissioners said the Port Authority received much of its funding from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families TANF, which ceased after 2007. In 2006, the department received 23.5 percent of its funds from the general fund and $46,000 in 2007, becoming completing county-funded since 2008.
Gould also asked the commissioners to forgive an advance of $28,000.
"We need that money now to pay the director (Merry) and to operate," he said. Gould said Commissioners Matt Coffland and Chuck Probst both agreed to forgive the money at a May meeting.
Commissioner Ginny Favede said no formal decision was made at that meeting.
"We cut the county budget by $2 million in 2009 and are still $2.2 million over," Coffland said. "We took money from the infrastructure fund to balance the 2009 budget."
"It is what it is," Coffland said. "Our income is $17 million and we are spending $22 million. We do not have the $28,000 to give."
Belmont County Auditor Andy Sutak said the $28,000 was uncertified.
Commissioner Chuck Probst made a motion to forgive the $28,000, but it was not seconded.
"Economic development is the future of Belmont County," Probst said.
The Port Authority board is proposing a $60,000 annual budget from the county, with the remaining funds to be provided by other private and public sources. Along with that proposal, is the suggestion that the Port Authority vacate the county-owned office on Newell Avenue in St. Clairsville.
"We are confident that an operating budget can be provided for by public and private entities," Port Authority board member Bill Knox said. "We are asking for a commitment to fund economic development and do it the right way."
Knox said the proposal would alleviate the county's budget concerns and allow the Port Authority to continue to operate.
"Sixty thousand dollars is a minimal investment in the ongoing economic development and a minimal investment in Larry Merry," Knox said.
The unapproved minutes of a June 24 Belmont Planning Commission meeting, in which commissioners Favede and Coffland discussed the future of the Port Authority and the CIC, was circulated by the Port Authority Board at the July 28 meeting.
Gould said none of the issues raised in the June 24 meeting were addressed with the Port Authority Board. He said the goal of the five-member board is to "bring our children and grandchildren back to the area by providing infrastructure and jobs."
"You re-created the wheel by forming a planning commission when you already had a CIC and a Port Authority," Gould said. "Why create a third arm for economic development?"
Commissioner Favede said the planning commission is not a development agency.
"The purpose of the planning commission is for future of the county. Economic development falls into the purview of the planning commission," Favede said.
Commissioners announced the formation of the planning commission in February of 2010.
A press release from the Board of Commissioners released in February said the "formal planning commission of 11 members, which will include the Board of County Commissioners and eight appointed citizens, will be formed this year. The main duties of the planning commission will include the creation of an economic strategic plan. The purpose of a strategic plan for economic development will be to set in place a blueprint to guide future activities aimed at steering and facilitating economic development, which can be loosely defined as retaining and increasing job opportunities, capital, quality of life and local tax base within Belmont County."
CIC Director Sue Douglass said the CIC is a private, non-profit department created in 1962. She said the county does not pay for her department or her salary, but provides money to the CIC for contractual obligations.
She said the CIC was currently responsible for three contracts, including the Fox Commerce Park.
Commissioner Coffland said there have been past concerns from businesses who felt they had trouble dealing with both the CIC and the Port Authority.
"We need one department working together, not two working apart," Coffland said.
"This disparity between the two boards does not exist," Douglass said.
"We feel we are being replaced by the planning commission," Douglass said. "The CIC has never been an obstacle to economic development. We never stood in the way of the Port Authority. We want the Industrial Park to be successful."
"I get bristled when it is suggested that I don't know how to run a budget," Merry said. He praised the Port Authority Board and said he has made many sacrifices.
"We all made changes to try to help the county get ahead," Merry said. He said as a former commissioner himself, he knows how difficult the job can be.
"I fear that it seems we are not working together," Merry said. "I just want to see this county move forward."
He said accepting a $60,000 annual budget that is less than his salary will obviously be a sacrifice for him.
"I'm going to be all in. I am not going to leave Belmont County," Merry said.
Commissioner Probst said he supported the Planning Commission, but had hoped all three departments would come together once a month. He said the fact that did not happened was not the fault of those boards.
"There are good people on those boards," Probst said. "I thought Sue Douglass and Larry Merry should have been included on the Planning Commission."
"The CIC and Port Authority are involved in projects that cannot be stopped," Probst said. "These are live, job-filling, on-going, real projects."
"I want the mall to grow, but it will grow when we create jobs," he said.
"We are undecided as to the future of the Port Authority," Favede said. "There has been a lot of discussion and there will be future discussion."
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