BELLWOOD — The Antis Township Board of Supervisors approved a motion of support for the decertification of county tourism promotion agency Explore Altoona, after initially considering tabling the motion until April.

Antis Township is the fourth municipality to vote in favor of decertification, joining the City of Altoona, Frankstown Township and Logan Township.

According to Pennsylvania Act 18 of 2016, which governs the use of bed tax money that sustains Explore Altoona, in order for a county government to proceed in decertifying a designated TPA, they must first receive the approval of municipal governments representing 65% or more of the county’s total population.

The Antis vote moves the county ever closer to that target, as the commissioners now have municipalities representing a little more than 70,000 people — roughly 90% of their target.

The board, chaired by Supervisor Steve Winterstein, expressed skepticism about the legality of the timing of the motion during its Thursday night meeting.

Per Act 18, “The county shall hold at least one public hearing on decertification no less than seven days before a meeting to adopt a resolution under this subsection.”

According to Supervisor Brian Kustaborder, the act is not clear on whether the mandatory public hearing must be held seven days before the county government or the individual municipalities’ vote to decertify the TPA.

Winterstein made a motion to table the scheduled decertification vote, citing that he needed more time to gather information and formulate his opinion on the matter.

Township solicitor Patrick Fanelli said that per his reading of the statute, the Board of Supervisors were in compliance with the law in voting on the decertification motion without a prior public hearing in the township, since the wording of the act refers to the county vote, not the municipalities’ vote.

ABCD Corp. CEO/President Steve McKnight attended the meeting alongside Blair Alliance Executive Committee chair Ron McConnell and they attempted to clear up any confusion.

The main disagreement between the Alliance and Explore Altoona, according to McConnell, is that Explore Altoona would use the bed tax money solely for marketing existing assets in Blair County, while a potential outdoor recreation development group affiliated with the Alliance would both market current assets while developing new ones.

Neighboring counties such as Bedford, Cambria and Centre have invested in developing their outdoor recreation assets in recent years, McKnight said, positioning Blair County to be a “leader” in the region if it followed suit.

These outdoor assets, such as the Ghost Town Trail in Cambria County, have become economic drivers for their surrounding communities, McKnight said.

Blair County could see similar benefits if it had an organized, well-staffed outdoor recreation development group to lead these future projects, he said.

According to McConnell, Blair County recently lost out on a $7.2 million state grant because it lacked the appropriate organizational capacity to properly manage the grant award.

Because the state has created several grant programs specifically to support outdoor recreational asset development, Blair County could potentially receive “big dollar” awards if it had the right infrastructure in place.

After the discussion with McKnight, Winterstein withdrew his initial motion to table the vote.

The subsequent motion in favor of decertifying Explore Altoona passed by a 4-1 margin, with Supervisor George Bell dissenting.

Potential merger

Earlier in the meeting, the board discussed an update in the ongoing dispute between Excelsior Fire Department and Pinecroft Volunteer Fire Company.

Both organizations receive a share of an annual $80,000 contribution from Antis Township, but the distribution has recently shifted in favor of Excelsior following a series of discussions in the fall about department efficacy.

According to a letter read by Bell, Excelsior sent a letter to Pinecroft formally asking if they were interested in merging the two departments together.

A 2020 Department of Community and Economic Development study recommended that the two companies should merge, according to Township Manager Douglas Brown.

The township approved an updated study in the fall at the request of Pinecroft, but has not yet received the results.

According to Pinecroft President Bill Muri, his department declined the offer outlined in Excelsior’s letter.

Members of the department would take a formal vote on the merger proposal at their next meeting later this month, Muri said, but he suspects the answer will be unchanged.

He is waiting to see the results of the updated DCED study before he decides on the merger proposal, Muri said.

Brown commended Excelsior for their “forward thinking” approach in writing the letter, but agreed that a lot has changed in the five years since the previous study, so the 2025 update may yield a different recommendation.

Mirror Staff Writer Conner Goetz is at 814-946-7535.