Lord Corporation TIF Plan Gets Yes Vote

In a sweeping motion, all seven members of the Erie County Council voted in favor of passing the Lord Corporation TIF (Tax Increment Financing) Plan ordinance.

"When you see how large of a project that is and what the potential financial impact is for our community going forward, it's immense," Erie County council chairman Joe Giles said.

This was the last vote needed for this project. Both Fort Leboeuf and Summit Township already voted in favor of the ordinance.

Now the project can move forward and move into the former Bush facilities on Robison Road.

Giles says voting yes on the ordinance is great for the community.

"Our support is there because Lord Corporation is important to our community and the jobs that they bring and the salaries that they have and the long history they've with the community, that's important," Giles said.

But one Waterford man thought voting in favor of the ordinance was a bad decision.

"I just wish they were doing this project by themselves," Waterford resident Patrick Long said.

Patrick Long asked the council to reconsider passing the ordinance. He says according to qualify for the TIF plan, the buildings would have to be in bad shape, and he says the Bush facilities are not.

"The buildings are only 12 years old. It is not blighted. It's a stretch to consider it blighted. I'm disappointed in the vote, but I expected it," Long said.

Long also says the plan isn't as beneficial to the community as it claims it will be.

President of the Economic Development Corporation, John Elliott, says Long doesn't have to worry about that.

"All the taxing bodies in Erie County will continue to get the $325,000 a year they're getting from the property," Elliott said.

In addition to the big vote on the TIF plan, the council also voted on a new salary for the deputy warden position: $70,000.