Public commenters from Muncie Township used the county’s public-comment period to press Lycoming County commissioners for information about ongoing negotiations involving FanVest and the Lycoming Mall property, asking whether FanVest or any of its subsidiaries had applied for or received additional county funding since a previously announced $5 million loan.

Terry Markley and other residents said they filed right-to-know requests seeking records about any new funding requests and asked the commissioners to disclose whether any requests had been made. Denise Hartley, Muncie Township supervisor, described seeking guidance on how to file narrower Right-to-Know (RTK) requests so the county can locate records more easily.

County officials and the commissioners explained options under the Pennsylvania Right-to-Know Law and the Office of Open Records guidance, and said that when requests are broad or ambiguous the county may respond that the request is too broad. The county solicitor advised requesters to be specific about date ranges and communication parties to aid searches.

Commissioners said the county had entered nondisclosure agreements as part of confidential negotiations and that disclosing certain pre-decisional communications can be restricted under the law. “We are not gonna jeopardize the negotiations of something this magnitude,” Commissioner Mark Messina said, adding commissioners had made the county the lead loan holder to protect the property.

On whether FanVest was asking for more county funding, one commissioner stated, “I would say at this point, they they personally are not requesting any money from the county.” That statement was delivered by a commissioner during the public comment exchange and was presented as the county’s current position; no formal vote or binding finding accompanied the remark. Commissioners also noted that economic-development funding related to large projects often involves multiple sources, including state and federal programs, and that some funding for projects in the county comes from Act 13 impact funds related to the gas industry.

Residents also raised concerns about nondisclosure agreements and asked whether NDAs have expiry limits; a commissioner answered that some NDAs were signed in April 2024 and defended limited disclosures as necessary to protect negotiations. County officials said that if documents responsive to properly framed RTK requests exist, they will be provided through the RTK process or via the Office of Open Records appeals process.

No formal county action or vote on additional funding was taken at the meeting; the comments were in the public-comment portion of the agenda.

Context: Commissioners and staff emphasized competition with other jurisdictions for large retail or development tenants, and that publicly revealing negotiation details can cause a potential tenant to withdraw. Several speakers framed Act 13 funds as a separate stream of economic-development dollars that does not come from the county’s general budget.