Five years after its biggest enterprise was opened there, a major expansion may be taking shape with the help of state and federal development funds in the Windy Ridge park in White Township.
A grant awarded to Indiana County in May will be utilized to aid development of about a quarter of the property on the southern end of the Oakland Avenue business district, following action Wednesday by the Indiana County Board of Commissioners.
That action was requested of the county commissioners by the Indiana County Office of Planning & Development.
“Access Roadway Projects proposes a public-private collaboration with the Indiana County Development Corporation, a 501©6 non-profit with project administration by (Pennsylvania Department of Transportation) District 10, proposes design, permitting and construction of two access roads of approximately 550 feet (0.11 miles) and 300 feet (0.06 miles), respectively, and related infrastructure to support the 210-acre Windy Ridge Business and Technology Park,” said Byron G. Stauffer Jr., executive director of both ICOPD and ICDC.
“When complete,” Stauffer continued, “these two access roads will serve five development lots totaling 55.202 acres.”
At the juncture of state Route 286 (Oakland Avenue) and U.S. Route 422, and not far from an interchange with U.S. Route 119, Stauffer said the park is in a strategic location, “geographically located to be a regional job center to support office, manufacturing, distribution and an array of other growth industries.”
However, little seems to have happened since Urban Outfitters opened a fulfillment center there in October 2019, that services that company’s digital customers across the United States.
According to the Urban Outfitters urbn.com website, the location was designed with efficient and ergonomic processes crafted to handle the company’s brands of furniture and large footprint items.
“The ICDC has received a number of inquiries for the subject property,” Stauffer told the board, “However, the lack of adequate access roads has been challenging.”
The way toward those access roads may have gone through a couple stops in Harrisburg, and apparently will need another stop in Washington, D.C.
As announced by Gov. Josh Shapiro in May, ICDC is receiving $1 million out of more than $10.6 million in PA SITES (Pennsylvania Strategic Investments To Enhance Sites) funding.
The governor’s office said PA SITES funds will be used there for engineering, environmental cleanup, demolition, and the construction and site preparation for a 500-foot extension of a roadway to Lot 21 and an intersection connecting to Lot 1.
Additionally, DCED said, funds will be used for street lighting, utility facilities, signage, sanitary sewer, storm water management, and erosion and sediment controls.
ICDC later secured additional funding, this time $1 million from the state’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program. Stauffer said that $1 million will serve as matching funds for the first million.
Also with approval from the commissioners Wednesday, ICOPD will seek to file an application for $475,000 from the Appalachian Regional Commission Access Road Program.
The Windy Ridge access road plan was one of several actions sought by ICOPD that the commissioners approved Wednesday.
One was approval of a resolution that recertifies that the Indiana County Revolving Loan Funds, inluding the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security) Act Revolving Loan Fund, are being operated consistent with existing Economic Development Strategy and in accordance with the policies and procedures contained in the administrative plan.
“This is a housekeeping item required semi-annually by the (U.S.) Economic Development Administration,” ICOPD Deputy Director for Economic Development Angela Campisano told the commissioners. “Our Economic Development Strategy is embodied within the document, ‘SmartMoves for a Changing Region,’ which is developed by the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission and endorsed by EDA.”
ICOPD Deputy Director for Community Development & Housing David Morrow had three items to present for approval by the county board, two of them for the Dixonville Commons building project:
- A contract agreement with Crane Masonry of Indiana for a wall repair project in the amount of $73,250, to be covered by Redevelopment Capital Assistance Program and Platinum Visual Solutions funds.
- A contract agreement with Byler Roofing Service of Ebensburg for removal of existing roof materials in the amount of $54,810, also to be covered by RACP and Platinum Visual Solutions funds.
Third was a $6,227 change order in the contract with Sheesley Electric for the YMCA of Indiana County Locker Room Renovation Project, to be covered by YMCA and RACP funds. It brings the total contract for that work to $116,227.
Stauffer also had two other matters for the commissioners’ consideration:
- A grant application for up to $1 million in Local Share Account funding from the Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development for a new entrance road into the county’s Buttermilk Falls Natural Area in West Wheatfield Township, accessing a parcel that once was a retreat for the family of the late television personality Fred Rogers’ maternal grandfather and includes the McFeely Trail.
- An allocation of $100,000 in liquid fuels money from PennDOT District 10 for Center Township, to partially offset eligible project costs for the Lucerne Mines Road Resurfacing Project. Stauffer said the total estimated project cost is $455,000.