Major: ‘Lockport Township is only trying to get the best deal for Clark Logic’

Lockport Township Supervisor Mark Major told Watershed Voice Wednesday that contrary to comments made by Three Rivers Mayor Tom Lowry and City Manager Joe Bippus during Tuesday’s city commission meeting, the township is only trying to do right by Clark Logic.

“I would like to point out that the city already provides services outside of their boundaries to 16 Lockport sites on North Main alone,” Major told Watershed Voice Wednesday. “Actually the list is 77 pages long of properties that include Constantine and Fabius Township. Mr Bippus made it quite clear at Monday’s meeting that they don’t care about helping Clark Logic but are only concerned with gaining the revenue from additional taxes. Lockport Township is only trying to get the best deal for Clark Logic, and protect the township from further city expansion.”

Major added that Lockport Township has lost more than 700 acres over the past 40 years to the City of Three Rivers.

During the commissioner comment portion of Tuesday’s Three Rivers City Commission meeting, Lowry and Bippus commented on a recent decision made by the Lockport Township Board in the matter of a PA-425 agreement that would have transferred the industrial facility at 57332 N. Main St. from Lockport to the City of Three Rivers for 50 years at 3.5 mills.

“Lockport Township had their meeting last Monday and they denied the 425,” Lowry said. “Jamie Clark had bought additional property on North Main and he continues to renovate properties, he continues to make everything look good, he continues to add employment to this area, it’s not just the city and I don’t know why (this decision was made), I don’t know why.”

Lowry continued, “Because once again on a controversial issue everybody on the Lockport Township Board or Council said zero, except for the person who made the motion, and it went down 4-1. I just think it’s a slap to the face of Jamie Clark and Clark Logic. That company just continues to grow, continues to invest, he’s becoming a major philanthropic character in the community and I don’t know what is going on in Lockport Township. It sounds like spite, it really sounds like spite, like somebody’s still upset.”

Lowry added, “So I want the world to know it, I want the world to blame me if they want, they have to change a few faces out there and get people to look at the community instead of just spite.”

Bippus said he “virtually” attended a Lockport Township meeting on Monday night, and a discussion about Clark’s property took place.

“They suggested that the city — they offered a 425 agreement — where the city, it’s 100 years and we pay them a premium and at the end of the 100 years we give them the property back,” Bippus said, “or we can sell services outside the city and they pretty much just left that up to us, at no cost to them but we just sell the services outside the city.”

Bippus said he sees the offer as “more of a publicity stunt” because the township board “doesn’t want to be the one saying no to Jamie (Clark), they didn’t want to be on the hook for that.” Bippus said he anticipates bringing the board a solution to the matter in a future city commission meeting, and a recommendation of how to move forward.

Alek Haak-Frost is the executive editor of Watershed Voice.