Tyrone disaster response earns praise

Council updates residents, commends patience after floods

TYRONE -- Over the past two weeks, Tyrone Borough has seen the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, Mayor John Harlow said during Monday's council meeting.

On July 4, more than 750 riders took their bikes from the American Legion Post 281 to DelGrosso's Amusement Park and back for the 2026 Freedom Ride, celebrating America's 250th anniversary, raising $52,000 for the James E. Van Zandt VA Medical Center, Harlow said.

The day after the borough celebrated America's semiquincentennial, the town faced the lowest of lows, Harlow said, as the borough got three inches of rain in a span of three hours on July 5.

Multiple homes were damaged and two girls got swept away in the water, but thanks to the Neptune, Hookies, Bald Eagle and Geeseytown fire departments, there was not a tragic result, Harlow said, noting neighbors were helping neighbors with cleanup efforts.

"This past week we've seen the best of Tyrone," Harlow said.

On Wednesday, July 8, Union Pacific's Big Boy steam locomotive came to town, along with anywhere from 2,500 to 3,500 visitors to witness the moment, Harlow said.

By the end of that day, the Blair County commissioners declared Tyrone a disaster area, he added.

The next day, the borough started taking in people impacted by the flood at the borough building while officials took state Sen. Judy Ward and state Rep. Scott Barger throughout the town to show them some of the damaged areas, Harlow said.

Tuesday, officials hosted a Multi-Agency Resource Center event at the Church of the Good Shepherd, with 20 agencies on hand to assist borough residents, according to Harlow.

"We're going to be working with our partners at the county, state and federal governments to try to find a way to fix the issues that caused one of Tyrone's worst days," Harlow said.

During the meeting, Harlow addressed complaints he's received about borough manager Kim Gurekovich being hired for the position in April.

"If this week has shown us anything, it showed me that we made the right decision. She's been the leader of this borough staff," Harlow said, telling Gurekovich that he's honored to work beside her and that officials made the right decision to hire her.

"Please have patience because state and federal aid takes time," Harlow said to the crowd of about 40 people who attended the meeting. "We will continue to work hard on behalf of you, and at the end of the day, I'm proud as hell of our community, and we will continue to show how strong Tyrone is."

Action taken

Among the items voted on during Monday's meeting, the council approved a $75,000 one-year contract with John McGill of Bionaic LLC to provide the borough with a comprehensive plan and also work on putting a main street manager program together.

Council members Bob Dollar, Debbie Kann and Ken Patterson voted in favor of awarding the contract; Harlow abstained from the vote; councilwoman Bridgette Gill was the sole vote against the contract; and council members Sarah Hunter, Tammy Wills and William Wiser were not present.

According to Harlow, the only other bid the borough received for the contract was from EADS Group, which did the last comprehensive plan in 2007, to update it for $100,000.

Harlow said the borough will use savings it has made over the past year to cover the cost of the contract. If the borough doesn't have a solid comprehensive plan, it's nearly impossible to receive state grants for projects, he said.

"It's not like we're creating new money to do this. We're using savings to end up trying to invest in our future, and our borough has not thought in a forward way in 20 years," Harlow said.

The council also approved the appointment of two full-time police officers. Brian Weber was hired to start Thursday, July 16, while Tanner Snyder will start Friday, July 17.

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.