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Vol. 134 - No. 109
Cloudy with a 40 percent chance of showers. Highs in the upper 60s.
Full report, A2
14 pagesClassi� ed ......................... B4Comics ............................. A5Lifestyles ......................... A3Lottery ............................. A7Opinion ........................... A6Public Notices ............... B4Sports ............................... B1
75 Cents
• Robert “Bob” Clyde, 56• Raymond E. Raybuck, 75• Dean M. Way, 76
A western Pennsylva-nia man has been jailed on charges that he sneaked into a volunteer fi re de-partment and took a fi re truck on a 30-minute joy-ride. A7
Budget timeThe point person
for state budget mat-ters among Pennsylvania House Republicans says it’s possible that a budget bill could be introduced early next week, kicking off the amendment pro-cess ahead of the new fis-cal year’s June 1 start. A8
First time?The DuBois softball
team will take the field Thursday at Slippery Rock University with hopes of reaching the state semifi-nals for the first time in school history. B1
Still a SteelerPittsburgh Steelers
Ike Taylor is one of those rare people who takes a pay cut with a smile. The way the 12-year corner-back looks at it, “millions is millions. B2
Fire truck joyride leads to jail
Tomorrow’s Forecast
Index
ObituariesA7
MORE INSIDE
Page B3
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 4, 2014
Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency assessments have shown Elk County resi-dents and businesses are eligible for declaration of a Small Business Administration disaster, which will offer residents low-interest loans. The photo shows flooding in Ridgway, May 21. (Photo by Katie Weidenboerner)
By Kimberly Finnigan
CLEARFIELD — Im-provements have been made, but Clearfield County wants more from the Area Trans-portation Authority of North Central Pennsylvania.
The commissioners ap-proved a resolution at their work session Tuesday ap-proving money for the ATA but they stressed that appro-priations will be reviewed on a quarterly basis.
The county budgeted money for the annual con-tribution and will release the appropriation for July 1 to Sept. 30 in the amount of $29,667.50.
Commissioner Joan Rob-inson-McMillen said the county got permission from PennDOT that allows the county not to be locked in to paying annually. She said the county will continue to release quarterly appropria-tions as long as they contin-ue to see improvements.
She said the county still has concerns about the ATA’s administration and its transparency of reporting and added that the county is still seeing about 50 percent resistance from other coun-ties and board members.
“There are some who are very abrasive that we would even question the way ATA has been doing things,” Rob-inson-McMillen said.
She said PennDOT has conducted a performance re-view.
“There are some ‘best practices,’ in the review, but most of them are from the drivers and the main-
tenance. There are more things which need improve-ment than positives. We want to see more transpar-ency. We have a fiscal re-sponsibility to Clearfield County. ATA is one of the most expensive per-unit rides and we need to look at why,” she said.
“The report praised the drivers, the maintenance and the equipment, but the issues have always been with the management and how it performs. The report backs up a lot of our concerns. We are seeing progress, but ATA needs to resolve these
issues,” Commissioner Mark McCracken said.
The commissioners said quarterly payments still allow the county an “exit strategy” if things with ATA do not continue to improve.
According to the PennDOT report, the ATA was found to be “in compli-ance” in seven of the eight categories under review.
ATA was “at risk” be-cause it ranks as the most expensive of the peer group due to low ridership.
The report found best practices in the ATA’s effec-tive policies to recruit and retain good drivers, such as stressing good interpersonal skills, CDL training and an-nual job evaluations of all drivers, which is not typical of most other agencies. The drivers have a seven-step salary progression, so they can qualify for up to seven
Allocationfor ATA getscounty’s OK
By Katie Weidenboerner
RIDGWAY — Two weeks after floodwater ravaged Elk County, residents and busi-ness owners have been told they have been approved for a disaster declaration by the federal Small Business Ad-ministration.
On May 21, the Clarion River crested near 22 feet in Ridgway, the second highest crest in its history. “Train-ing thunderstorms,” or thun-derstorms coming one after another like train cars, brought 4 to 4 1/2 inches of rain that took residents off guard.
“In one day, the bad rain-storm that we had dumped a significant amount of water over Elk County in a short period of time,” Emergen-cy Management Director Mike McAllister told the
Elk County commissioners Tuesday.
“It was countywide that we had this event take place. Predominantly it was in the Ridgway Township and Ridgway Borough area, but Horton Township, Jay Township, the City of St. Marys, Johnsonburg, Wil-cox, I think all of our mu-nicipalities were affected by the event in some way.”
The day of the flood, the 911 center took more than 1,000 calls in a 24-hour pe-riod.
“When we were out and about people were asking who is going to help them,” Commissioner June Sorg said. “I think there is a lot of confusion out there.”
The day after the rains came, Pennsylvania Emer-
gency Management Agency officials came for two days of preliminary damage assess-ments. PEMA’s assessment goal was to identify at least 25 structures which were business or residences that had major damage. McAl-lister said major damage is characterized by water dam-age above the outlets on the first floor.
“That is the magic num-ber for the government to declare an Small Business Administration disaster,” McAllister said. “We had a significant number over the 25.”
The numbers were for-warded onto the Federal Emergency Management Agency for confirmation. At that point, Gov. Tom Corbett sent a letter seeking federal assistance through low-in-terest SBA disaster relief
Businesses, residents approved for disaster loans for flood damage
Chris Rosselot of Hotel 2d Services, forefront, leads investors, community leaders, and state government officials in breaking ground for a Cobblestone Hotel on Depot Street in St. Marys. (Photo by Katie Weidenboerner)
By Katie Weidenboerner
ST MARYS — At least five years in the making, ground was broken Tuesday afternoon on a 64-room, $6.5 million hotel project that will be located on Depot Street.
Todd “Booka” Hanes of developer Creek-side Hospitality said the project has been “a long time coming.”
Owning the biggest portion of the prop-erty the hotel will be developed on, after his restaurant burned to the ground in 2007, Hanes has been looking for a devel-oper to sell the property to.
“Trying to sell my property, I just kept with the project. Everyone said why don’t you build it (the hotel),” Hanes said. “I kind of laughed. I guess there wasn’t much to laugh about because here I am.”
The project has a flawed history as the city originally entered into an agree-ment in 2010 with St. Marys Hospitality LP, with developer Bob Yoder as its head, which planned to build a hotel. The city backed out of that agreement in August 2013 when Yoder failed to secure needed funding.
That is when Creekside Hospitality,
comprised of Todad Hanes, Dean Hanes, Mike Faulk and John Schatz stepped for-ward.
Hotel 2d Services Chris Rosselot con-sultant said the project is being called a “community hotel” as there has been much effort from multiple agencies to make it happen.
“This hotel will really help to transform the downtown area of St. Marys, capture a growing hospitality market demand not only for St. Marys but for the northcentral PA region,” Rosselot said. “It’s really going to accommodate business travelers as well as recreational and leisure travelers.”
The facility will be a Cobblestone Hotel and will employ 17 people full-time. It will include an in-ground saltwater swimming pool.
Construction will begin the last week in June to the first week in July. Opening day has been slated for January.
The home and Circuit Zone business property on the corner of Depot and Fourth streets will stay in place. In the coming weeks, one blighted property on Fourth Street and two on Depot Street will be razed to prepare the hotel site.
Ground broken for new hotel in St. Marys
See Hotel, Page A7
See Flood, Page A7 See ATA, Page A7
Clearfield Co.
Elk County
“There are some who are very abrasive that we would even question the way ATA has been doing things,” Robinson-McMillen said.
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