Schuylkill County Commissioner Gary Hess is clarifying remarks made at Wednesday morning’s public board meeting regarding the rumored ICE processing center in Tremont Township.
At a town hall event to discuss the rumors, hosted by Democrat Congressional challenger and Schuylkill County native Rachel Wallace, Hess responded to comments from the audience and those made at Wednesday’s board meeting where it was said the County government hadn’t received anything from Tremont Township.
A report in the Republican Herald that indicated it was “confirmed” the ICE facility was being put in the former Big Lots Distribution Center. In that report, Tremont Township Supervisor Larry Bender said he forwarded a request for tax records from Charles Jones, a title search company doing work on behalf of a potential buyer of that property – in this case, the US government – to the County government.
When asked on Wednesday if the County had received any communication from Tremont Township, the Commissioners said they hadn’t.
However, on Thursday at the town hall held at Newtown Fire Co., Hess said that apparently wasn’t true. Here’s what happened:
Hess said Tremont Township’s Bender sent an email with the document the newspaper used as its confirmation that the facility was definitely coming there to Schuylkill Economic Development Corp. (SEDCO) president Frank Zukas.
Zukas then forwarded the email to Schuylkill County Administrator Gary Bender, who then forwarded it to the Commissioners emails. Hess said the document was at “the bottom of the email.”
“It was just on the taxes,” Hess said, adding that there was no confirmation that the US government was definitely buying the property.
The Commissioner did confirm that he was present for a phone call he and his colleagues placed to Charles Jones inquiring about the rumored purchase that had been reported by the Republican Herald as “confirmed.”
Hess said a representative at Charles Jones backed what Commissioner Larry Padora told Coal Region Canary in a conversation on Wednesday afternoon that the US government was interested to the point of doing a title and tax inquiry but no sale had been completed.
“Settlement hasn’t been signed,” Hess told The Canary at Thursday’s town hall.
RELATED:
- Commissioners: No Evidence of a “Confirmed” Deal for ICE Facility in Schuylkill County
- WaPo: ICE Processing Facility Proposed for Schuylkill County
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