SHAMOKIN – It’s possible a bright future is ahead for the city of Shamokin after a visit from Governor Tom Wolf. Governor Wolf took a tour of the city Wednesday with various Valley public officials to highlight blight removal there with the Restore Pennsylvania initiative.
He says it’s very possible for the city’s history to come back to life, “And it’s this city, so much like so many other cities and boroughs around Pennsylvania, have great bones. You look out buildings that are on the verge of not being so great…what amazing architecture…and it has a form that people really like.”
Shamokin Mayor John Brown says revitalization efforts of the city have already begun thanks to the state government’s boost, “We’re getting some state recognition from Mr. (State Representative Kurt) Masser, and now we’ve attracted the governor. We’re going to be getting some blight funding in here to tear down some of these dilapidated buildings, and at the same time, we’re also starting to get some new interest here. We have developers showing up here, they’re rehabbing buildings and building new buildings for us. So things are coming here that are going to generate revenue and make us sustainable again.”
But Governor Wolf says a severance tax, which he’s been long advocating for, can really move things forward, “You already have private sector people willing to invest. You already have the federal government that does have some resources there. You have county, you have local, municipal resources. That’s $4.5 billion that could do a lot of really good things and leverage a lot to do things that places like Shamokin really need.”
The governor called for the severance tax on natural gas and oil production in his 2018-19 budget talks, which would be between four cents and seven cents per cubic feet of natural gas. Governor Wolf also visited Millersburg Wednesday for similar initiatives, and offering a similar, positive outlook.
