HOLLIDAYSBURG – Two Blair County commissioners are indicating in a letter to Explore Altoona that they will be moving on with efforts toward the pursuit of outdoor recreational trail development.

While commissioners Dave Kessling and Amy Webster took no action when meeting Thursday, both signed a letter dated Monday advising Explore Altoona that its recent partnership proposal with greater communication falls “far short” of what the commissioners are trying to accomplish.

“I am afraid our vision and scale of the goal we are trying to accomplish is not shared with you or the board,” the commissioners’ letter to Jodi Cessna, who chairs Explore Altoona’s board of directors, states. “It is time to move on.”

Commissioners last year proposed decertifying Explore Altoona as the county’s tourist promotion agency and assigning that role to the Blair Alliance for Business and Economic Growth – the organization formed through the merger of Altoona Blair County Development Corp. and the Blair County Chamber of Commerce.

In its Feb. 3 letter, the commissioners reiterated that Explore Altoona could become a third affiliate member of the Alliance so its promotional and marketing efforts continue.

But as part of that change and decertification, the commissioners would be in a position to revise how the county’s bed tax revenue is allocated, with the potential for putting money into developing outdoor recreational assets aimed at attracting visitors and boosting the local economy.

Webster said Thursday that she remains interested in creating an authority to work on development of recreational trails inside the county that can be connected to existing trails. While the authority won’t necessarily have to own the trails, she said it can be the agency that coordinates development and uses bed tax revenue toward “actual projects” that will bring people into the county and boost the local economy.

Kessling has also spoken of his interest in using the bed tax to develop outdoor recreation and trail assets as something that can benefit the county now and in the future.

“Blair County does not want to follow what other counties are doing or not doing with the use of bed tax,” the commissioners’ letter states. “While some are in fact using bed tax for outdoor recreational assets, we want to lead in this effort.”

Explore Altoona, which has a long history of using bed tax revenue to market businesses which attract tourists, is on record against decertification and has lobbied municipal leaders to oppose it.

By law, decertification requires approval from municipalities representing an aggregate of more than 65% of the county’s total population.

In November, after leaders of a few municipalities discussed the dispute and suggested looking for a resolution, commissioners put the decertification effort on hold.

But after four meetings and no agreement, Kessling told the Mirror this week that Explore Altoona remains “unwilling to look at the broader picture for the growth of this county.” That, he said, formed the basis for the Feb. 3 letter.

Cessna, after receiving the letter, said that the Explore Altoona board agrees that “it’s time to move on” but only if that means that the county “understands a merger (of Explore Altoona and Blair Alliance) is not a reasonable option at this time.”

She also said that Explore Altoona will agree it’s time to move on if that means that commissioners “… will begin pursuing appropriate sources of funding for asset development … that they realize that the (bed) tax is intended to be used for marketing the county … (and) that they recognize Explore Altoona has offered a viable path for advancing outdoor recreation goals by enhancing collaboration with the county and the economic development agency.”

However, if moving on means that commissioners intend to restart the decertification process, then the Explore Altoona board expects commissioners to respect the legal process and convene a public hearing so the tourism community has the proper forum to voice opinions, Cessna said.

“Should the commissioners decide to push on after that hearing, followed by an official vote for decertification, we expect they will inform the municipalities, as legal counsel has informed us, that there is no mandate that an individual municipality participate in the vote,” she added.

Neither Kessling or Webster offered specific plans as to how they intend to proceed.

When asked if he intended to restart the decertification process or seek changes as to how the bed tax revenue is allocated, Kessling said some other options are being considered.

Webster spoke of restarting the decertification process and stressing the need for municipal leaders to be supportive.

“We’re trying to do something that’s going to be beneficial to the whole county, that’s going to bring people here and make new assets available to our county’s citizens,” Webster said. “We have to look toward the future as we consider this.”

Commissioner Laura Burke has removed herself from decisions regarding Explore Altoona due to a conflict of interest.

Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 814-946-7456.