CLEARFIELD – Following a presentation, the Clearfield Area School District Board of Directors decided that it must first consult with the solicitor and administration before continuing participation in an expansion of the Keystone Opportunity Zone at the Clearfield Firemen’s Commerce Industrial Park.
Tom Stojek, a representative from the Clearfield Foundation, sought the board’s approval to re-enroll all unoccupied lands at the park into the new KOZ program, including the unoccupied 20,000 square foot industrial building.
“It’s a rural, non-affluent area. We believe that we need an advantage in our economic development tool box,” he said.
“We believe the new KOZ program is a valuable tool for leveraging private investment and for creating new jobs for north central Pennsylvania.”
He said that the KOZ designation would give Clearfield a distinct advantage for attracting new businesses into the commerce park. He said that the unoccupied land and industrial building would be the only KOZ in Lawrence Township.
When asked if other areas have also enrolled, Stojek said that going west on Interstate 80, DuBois, Jefferson County and Corsica have all done so. He said that he wasn’t sure about those that are in the eastern area.
Stojek said that the current legislation is good through the end of 2010.
North Parcel
The north parcel is 94.48 acres and is owned by the Clearfield Foundation.
According to Stojek, it is no longer unattractive to new business, as it now has pad ready business sites for sale with complete infrastructure and roadways.
Stojek invited the board to visit the north parcel with him and inspect the brand new plateau.
“The view and access is spectacular,” he said, noting that the parcel is zoned mostly commercial highway.
He said that the new infrastructure on the north parcel includes a four-lane boulevard as well as water, sewer, electric, gas and a complete storm water management system.
In 2004, Stojek said that the foundation worked with the commercial developer Jemsite, Inc., of North Carolina, to bring Lowe’s to Clearfield. He said the store opened in December 2005 and the KOZ tax incentive for Lowe’s will expire permanently on Dec. 31, 2010.
Stojek said that Jemsite, Inc. and now Lowe’s are the only entities in the commerce park that have received the KOZ tax benefits.
South Parcel
Additionally, Stojek proposed that the 25.19-acre lower south parcel, which is owned by the fair board, be approved as a new KOZ property. He said that the parcel is critical to achieving the remediation and site development plans for the 87.471-acre south parcel.
Stojek said that the south parcel is zoned entirely industrial. He said the rail siding was extended farther into the parcel to provide businesses the option to ship and receive products by rail in 2006.
According to him, additional site development occurred on the south parcel two years later. He aid that much more excavation and site development was needed, however. He noted that the site was a former deep mine.
“We basically need to daylight this deep mine,” he said. He said that they would soon apply for a $5 million federal stimulus grant so that they could excavate and remove the remaining acidic mine spoil from the south parcel.
He said that all of the mine spoil will be placed onto the lower south parcel and compacted in eight-inch lifts with heavy doses of lime per the Department of Environment Protection’s alkaline addition permit requirements.
As part of the master site plan, Stojek said that DEP expanded their Natural Pollutant Discharge Elimination permit area in 2008 to so that it would include the lower south parcel for this specific grading and infrastructure project.
“Please know that it has been very expensive for us to remediate a strop of deep mined property into ready business sites,” he said.
He said the Clearfield Foundation has an exclusive option to purchase the lower south parcel from the fair board.
Stojek said that he’d need two approvals that would allow them to enroll the existing land and the fair board property. He said that he would also need to seek approval from both Lawrence Township and the Clearfield County Commissioners.
Stojek said that they must have all three approvals before submitting an application to the Department of Economic Development.