Mar 24, 2018 3 min read

Brandon Stanick isn’t quite 16 months into his new job as South Strabane manager, and he is well versed on the particulars of the township he serves. Stanick is impressed by residential developments and retail and dining options available within the municipality’s 23 square miles.

Yet, there is a missing element.

“You can eat anything you want and buy anything you want, but you can’t have entertainment,” he said, flippantly. But that void, he added, may be remedied by TSG Properties, owners of the Old Mill shopping complex, who are considering entertainment venues for the project’s next phase.

Stanick was among three township managers who participated in a roundtable discussion about their diverse communities Friday at the monthly Washington County Chamber of Commerce Breakfast Briefing. Mt. Pleasant’s Erin Sakalik and Peters’ Paul Lauer also addressed a large audience at Chartiers Township Community Center in an event moderated by a fourth manager, Chartiers’ Jodi Noble.

Noble asked her municipal peers about their communities, how they balance business and residential, what they do with Act 13 and Local Share Account funding and natural gas drilling.

Lauer spoke about his township joining forces with Peters Township School District to develop the former Rolling Hills Country Club property, with plans for a new high school and, possibly, an outdoor aquatics center.

He said Peters has gotten $560,000 in Act 13 and LSA funding – the latter from revenue generated at the Meadows Casino. And while drilling is limited in that township, “the funds have been significant for road improvements,” Lauer said.

Drilling, conversely, is commonplace in Mt. Pleasant. Sakalik said her township has gotten $2.7 million in Act 13 funds since 2011 “and that goes right back into the community.” Money has gone toward police, fire and other municipal departments, including the purchase of a fire truck, and to the municipal authority for future installation of a sewer line to about 600 homes and businesses.

Without outside funding, she added, Mt. Pleasant’s real estate taxes would be about double what they are.

Asked about retail, Sakalik said there are about 100 businesses in her 36-square-mile municipality, “and most of those are home-based.” She said “drone retailing is something we may need to include.”

“Retail has remained healthy” in South Strabane, Stanick said, adding the Walmart and Target stores have undergone renovations. “We are continuing to see reinvestment in retail, and that’s a positive.”

Stanick, however, issued a few cautionary words about bricks-and-mortar retail, which is being impacted by online shopping. “We face a long-term concern about whether retail sales will remain the same. You want your shopping centers to have attractions. The township has to be open-minded and flexible about retail.”

Lauer said in Peters, “there is a desire in the community to have commercial development, and not just along the Route 19 corridor. This also is happening on East McMurray and Valley Brook roads. People want small, convenient specialty shops, and we’re starting to see that occur.”

Like his South Strabane counterpart, Lauer is concerned about the direction retail may take. He said Peters will have to respond to that accordingly.

“Marketing forces will be what drives this,” he said.