Millcreek supervisor headlines Erie County's township races in Nov. 7 municipal election
Voters in six of Erie County's 22 townships will have a choice to make for supervisor or council in this fall's municipal election.
Chief among the contests is the supervisor race in Millcreek Township, where the Millcreek Township General Authority earlier this year bought a handful of commercial properties to spur redevelopment along West Eighth Street near Presque Isle State Park.
Some residents have questioned the strategy of spending almost $7.2 million from proceeds of the 2015 sale of the Millcreek Township Water Authority to Erie Water Works to buy the former Joe Root's Grill, Bel-Aire Hotel, Sandbar Draft House & Grille, Grasshopper shop and Manor Motel with a plan to demolish the properties and offer them for redevelopment.
Incumbent Millcreek Township Supervisor Jim Bock and challenger Sam Comfort shared their views with the Erie Times-News on whether all of the buildings should be demolished. The candidates also weighed in on the township's new fire tax and other issues.
The West Eighth Street properties
Bock, 60, a Republican, serves on the Millcreek Township General Authority with fellow Millcreek Township Supervisors Dan Ouellet and Kim Clear. Bock in 2018 voted to adopt the township's Embrace Millcreek comprehensive plan recommending revitalization of the Presque Isle Gateway District near Presque Isle State Park.
He was the only member of the five-member Millcreek Township General Authority to vote against the property purchases earlier this year. And as township supervisor, Bock has consistently voted against transferring funds for the properties to the authority.
"I think Embrace Millcreek is a solid plan or I wouldn't have voted for it," Bock said. "But when things shifted toward the township purchasing buildings, I voted no because of the cost, because I don't think it's a good use of taxpayer dollars, and because buying real estate is fledgling territory for the township.
"But moving forward, I will work with (fellow supervisors and authority members) to market these properties as soon as feasible," Bock said. "The sooner we can sell the properties and spur the development we want, the better.
"And I will continue to be a watchdog for taxpayers through that process," Bock said.
Comfort, 34, a Democrat, said that he isn't sure whether he would have supported the West Eighth Street property purchases but agrees with the goal.
"They overpaid for the properties, and I'm not thrilled with that. But I think I understand the thinking behind it," Comfort said. "If those properties had been sold piecemeal, and a chain, say, brought in a new restaurant at Joe Root's, people visiting from Cleveland, Buffalo and Pittsburgh might stop in, see that the Sandbar still looks the way it did and see weeds farther down the street in the lot of the former Bel-Aire. And maybe they decide not to go back there, which could put the restaurant in the hole, because like it or not, a lot of our repeat economy comes from the tourist population."
It makes sense to address vacant or declining properties along Eighth Street at the same time, Comfort said.
"If there's an entity that would get all of those properties ready for redevelopment, it would be something along the lines of either a chamber, the township or some form of government entity," Comfort said. "But the township should have been more transparent and not just talking about revitalizing the Presque Isle gateway and then suddenly buying properties."
Saving the Bel-Aire ballroom and kitchen, at least, would maintain a needed public venue for Millcreek, Comfort said.
"There's not a lot of events space in Millcreek," Comfort said. "Everybody points to the Ambassador on upper Peach Street, but that's in Summit Township. And venues along the Erie bayfront can be cost prohibitive."
Smaller events like the Pennsylvania State Button Society's Buttons by the Bay show held at the Bel-Aire Hotel in 2019 can bring people to Millcreek and make money for the Bel-Aire, Comfort said. Leaving the hotel's events spaces intact additionally could encourage a hotel chain to renovate or rebuild Bel-Aire guest rooms, he said.
Bock also said that the Bel-Aire or at least a portion of the hotel should not be demolished.
"When the township had an appraisal done of the Bel-Aire, it was said that the highest and best use of that building is to continue to operate it as a hotel. It still needs a little bit of updating, but I think the bones are good," Bock said. "The (former owner) put $2 million into renovations right before COVID.
"I think the building or at least parts of the building should remain standing and that the township should let the private sector determine if a hotel is good there or not," Bock said.
The former Grasshopper shop, used as a schoolhouse for a time over a century ago, has historic value and also should be preserved, Bock said.
"I'm a proponent of leaving that building in place," Bock said.
Comfort said the building should be preserved if financially feasible.
"It's old, but technically speaking it's not listed as an historical structure. If we can save it rather than knocking it down, then we should unless it's cost prohibitive," Comfort said. "I'd love to see something like a VisitErie office or chamber satellite office in there along with something to promote Millcreek itself."
The fire tax
A fire tax imposed by Millcreek Township this year will pay the salaries of a full-time fire chief hired in July and full-time firefighters to answer calls, particularly during the day when volunteers aren't always available. The .4000-mill tax will cost residents $40 for each $100,000 of their property's value.
"Our volunteers are not going away. They're very important, have a lot of tradition and have provided valuable service. But we need to supplement their numbers," Bock said. "We're in the process of hiring nine full-time firefighters. It was time to take that leap and address manpower shortages."
Comfort said the township could have done a better job of educating the public about the tax and could have postponed some of the expense.
"Someone needs to coordinate the hybridization of the system. I understand that," Comfort said. "And eventually we would need a full-time chief. But with four volunteer chiefs and three township supervisors, I think one of them might have coordinated as we hired firefighters before we went with that ($94,000) salary."
Stormwater flooding
Flooding after heavy rains continues to be a problem in parts of the township and should be holistically addressed, Comfort said.
"It's been kind of chicken wire and duct tape throughout the township," Comfort said. "The $22 million the township got from the sale of the water authority wouldn’t have been enough to do a complete study, do a capital project and maintain it going forward, but it would have been a nice start or a great down payment for that."
Using the money to bring in more businesses to increase the tax base would provide funding to improve stormwater management, Comfort said. The township should also aggressively pursue state and federal funding and ask neighboring municipalities to help fund improvements, he said.
"If we're the gem of Erie County and the gateway to Presque Isle, as it's said, supervisors should be meeting with other municipal leaders to say, look, you're also getting economic benefits from Millcreek and should help us make sure tourists driving to the peninsula or your residents driving to work aren't driving through floodwater," Comfort said.
The township is making progress in addressing flooding, Bock said, partly by closing the township-owned asphalt plant several years ago, which freed employees to clean and repair storm sewers and otherwise maintain the system.
The township additionally has cleaned the Seelinger channel north of Popeyes on West 12th Street and cleaned Beaver Run near West 54th Street and Washington Avenue, preventing or reducing flooding in those areas, Bock said.
"We've also formed a task force internally with supervisors, our public works director, streets chief, development director and engineer that meets once a month to talk specifically about stormwater, what areas we're getting complaints in, and what's being done. And I think we're making strides," Bock said.
"There obviously are still areas that need attention and the process, including permitting, is slow. But I think we have all our crews on one page to attack problems methodically."
Bock: The candidate
Bock is a Millcreek native and a graduate of the Pennsylvania State Police Academy. He worked in insurance and was a Pennsylvania state trooper for 25 years before winning election to a first, six-year term as Millcreek supervisor in 2017. He is married and the father of four.
Bock cites his experience and accomplishments as supervisor, including an expanded paving program, increased security at the township municipal building, updating the township zoning ordinance and standardizing weapons for Millcreek police officers, as his qualifications for re-election.
"Standardizing weapons makes training and ammunition purchases easier," Bock said. "And if there's an incident and someone needs extra bullets, for instance, another officer can provide them."
Projects in the works, Bock said, include the sale of Erie Golf Course, which he said is expensive to maintain and ties up township crews.
Sale proceeds would be dedicated for parks and recreation, maybe including a community center, Bock said.
"We need a true community center here, a building where people can go for most of our programming," Bock said. "With everything from crocheting to knitting to chair yoga to aerobics, our classes always sell out. And right now we rely a lot on the school district because it owns the Asbury Barn property that we lease.
"The challenge is to find land to build, and that would be expensive, or to find an existing building that could house a community center and maybe additional space that one or more agency could rent to help offset some of the cost," Bock said.
Comfort: The candidate
Comfort is a first-time candidate but isn't new to local politics. He is secretary of the Erie County Democratic party and serves as a judge of elections.
A native of southwestern Pennsylvania, he moved with his wife to Millcreek five years ago.
"I was that tourist who used to visit and fell in love with the peninsula and fell in love with this area," Comfort said. "When it was time to continue my career, I sought to move to Erie County. My wife didn't have a lot of familiarity with the area and asked where we should buy a house. I said, Millcreek. It's near the lake and it's a nice place to live.
"I want Millcreek to be appealing to young families and also to people on fixed incomes who rely on the services that younger people provide," Comfort said.
Comfort is a graduate of Saint Vincent College in Latrobe and has a graduate degree in student affairs in higher education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He has been an administrator in higher education and in Erie County previously worked for LECOM and Edinboro University. He currently works at Lowe's.
Comfort said that he will work to make township government more transparent and responsive if he's elected.
"If you call and ask me a question and I don’t know the answer right away, I will find the answer," Comfort said. "I'd also have public office hours so that someone having a problem with the storm drain in front of their house can come and talk to me about it. Or if they can't come in at those times, I'll go to them or we'll find a place to meet and talk. It worked for me in higher education and it works for me now in retail."
More townships with races Nov. 7
Other townships with more than one candidate for supervisor this fall are, Elk Creek: Democrat James Duda and Republican Michael Orr; Greene: Democrat Shawn Mattson and Republican Krista Arnold; Greenfield: Democratic incumbent Salvatore Fedele Jr. and Republican Travis Clabbatz; and Venango: Democratic incumbent David Austin Jr. and Republican Jeff Nelson.
In Washington Township, there are four candidates for three available seats on township council. The candidates include incumbents Mary Jo Campbell, a Democrat, and Stephen Renick, a Republican. Also running are Republican William Leehan and Dustin Snyder, who won as a write-in candidate in both parties in the spring municipal primary.
Before the primary: Lou Aliota withdraws from the race for Millcreek Township supervisor nomination
Coming soon: Contract to demolish Joe Root's, Sandbar and Manor Motel
Contact Valerie Myers at vmyers@timesnews.com.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Bock, Comfort vie for Millcreek supervisor, plus other township races
