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Pa. Farm Show Complex, stuffed with millions of masks and other pandemic supplies, can’t host events

Shortly after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, state officials moved to consolidate its emergency supplies inside the expansive facility

  • By Jan Murphy/PennLive
The Cameron Street entrance to the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg is seen on Monday, December 30, 2019.

 Rachel McDevitt / WITF

The Cameron Street entrance to the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg is seen on Monday, December 30, 2019.

(Harrisburg) — Pennsylvania is looking for a new home for the huge stockpile of emergency supplies the state acquired to deal with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic — and the next pandemic to come down the pike.

Boxes upon boxes of personal protective equipment now sit inside the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex — and that is becoming an increasing concern to both lawmakers and tourism advocates.

Shortly after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic last year, state officials moved to consolidate its emergency supplies, then stored in several facilities around the region, inside this expansive state-owned facility in Harrisburg, best known for hosting the Pennsylvania Farm Show every January.

The state General Services Secretary Curt Topper told lawmakers last month there was nowhere else to go.

The volume of goods they anticipated stockpiling demanded a large facility. Health and emergency officials wanted it to be near the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency’s headquarters. And they wanted it in a centralized location so orders could readily be pulled together and shipped out across the commonwealth, he said.

Also a factor, Topper told senators during a budget hearing Thursday, was a decade-old arrangement with the federal government that the Farm Show would be the receiving point for federally delivered supplies.

As a result, the entire complex was closed last March. And it remains off limits to event organizers who typically rent space in the facility for their shows or competitions, despite Gov. Tom Wolf’s decision last month to relax limits on indoor gatheringsthat would allow them to be held.

According to Visit Hershey & Harrisburg, the official destination marketing organization for Dauphin County, having that facility unavailable for rental for the past year has had a negative economic impact of more than $215 million on the state, the city, hotels, restaurants and other businesses.

The organization’s CEO and President Mary Smith, as well as state lawmakers, says it’s past time to find another place to park the stockpile.

“What’s the plan for the PPE?” said House State Government Committee Seth Grove, R-York County. “It’s been over a year. That’s all I want to know.”

Topper and others in the Wolf Administration say they have begun to look for another location but can only go so far in that process until they are assured they will have the money to pay for it.

Topper is asking for $6 million to be included in the 2021-22 state budget for his department to pay the cost of relocating the stockpile, consisting of federally provided and state-purchased goods, to a leased warehouse.

Learning from experience

In the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic’s onset, Wolf and state health officials frequently spoke of the difficulties they encountered trying to find and obtain sufficient quantities of PPE from the federal government. In some cases, what they did get was past its expiration date.

As a result, Topper said the commonwealth realized it needs to be better prepared for future emergencies. Knowing how it had to scramble to locate the needed supplies last spring convinced the administration that the commonwealth needs to have a permanent PPE stockpile, Topper said, “because frankly we don’t know when the next pandemic is going to hit.”

Since March 2020, Wolf spokeswoman Lyndsay Kensinger said the state has allocated and purchased $51 million worth of N95 masks, masks, gloves, face shields and bottles of hand sanitizer. And shipments of supplies continue to go out from that stockpile.

But administration officials know this use of the Farm Show Complex can’t go on forever.

During a virtual news conference on Thursday, Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency director Randy Padfield said another state-owned facility had been eyed as a possible location for the stockpile, but the state found it would “require a significant amount of work” and determined it to be unsuitable.

PEMA director Randy Padfield talks about relocating Pa's PPE stockpile

Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency Randy Padfield on Thursday confirmed the state is working on finding a permanent location to store the state’s stockpile of PPE so it can be removed from the PA Farm Show complex. April 22, 2021 Screenshot from Commonwealth Media Services virtual news conference.

“So we’ve been working through a number of plans and we have the requirements identified at this point in time and we’re moving ahead with that,” Padfield said. “We’re working on the final details of that plan and look to be able to implement that here in the near future.”

Topper told senators on Thursday it will take months of 17 or 18 truckloads a day to move all of the material in the stockpile to another facility. He said during a Senate budget hearing the goal is to relocate the stockpile to a permanent home by September or October.

Losing money

Sen. Judy Schwank, D-Berks County, asked at that hearing about the possibility of renting out portions of the Farm Show complex where the stockpiles are not being stored.

Topper said public health has to be the first consideration when deciding how to use public spaces.

“I want to be out of the woods to a greater degree in the pandemic before we start considering renting or leasing additional space out at the Farm Show,” Topper replied.

Meanwhile, Visit Hershey & Harrisburg’s Smith looks at other counties and sees their large venues, convention centers and complexes opening up, and successfully hosting events now that the state is allowing larger indoor gatherings.

“Their hotels are thriving,” Smith said. “We have nothing. Zero. Surrounding counties are actually benefiting from business that is relocating because they still plan on having their event. They just need somewhere to have it so those counties are benefiting from our loss.”

She too struggles to understand why the Expo Center in the complex can’t be reopened since the stockpile is not stored in there. She said she knows organizers of several events tried to book the center for May and June, but were told it would still be closed. Padfield explained why that’s the case during his news conference.

“The concern is making sure that the site is relatively secured,” he said, “and we don’t have individuals wandering off and those types of things.”

While the governor’s office said the state hasn’t lost a dime from not hosting events at the facility because they wouldn’t have taken place anyway due to health and safety concerns.

Schwank, who is member of the Pennsylvania Farm Show Commission, said more than half of the Farm Show’s typical annual budget of about $14 million is funded through facility rental, parking, services, sponsorship and food and beverage commissions.

The total revenue year-to-date is $8 million – $2.6 million less than for the same time period in 2020. She said $5 million of its revenue came from the Race Horse Development Fund and the rest is mostly reimbursement from PEMA and the federal government. Fortunately, she said because the complex has been closed, expenditures are down enough to offset the decrease in revenue.

Why it was put there

Topper is the first to admit the Farm Show Complex is not the ideal location for any long-term storage of the PPE.It’s in a flood zone, although administration officials said the stockpile is placed in an area of the facility not prone to flooding. Some of the textile-based products, such as gowns and gloves, are stored on dirt floors. Add to that how it’s keeping the complex from generating revenue by remaining closed.

Pennsylvania's PPE stockpile

Boxes of masks, gloves, gowns and other personal protective gear sit in the state’s stockpile at the Pennsylvania Farm Show complex. Photo provided by Pa. House Republican Caucus.

Given those concerns, lawmakers last month questioned why the administration chose it to be the depository for the valuable PPE stockpile.

Along with the flood risk, Rep. Clint Owlett, R-Tioga County, raised concerns about pest control at the facility, which administration officials said has not been enhanced since the stockpile was moved there. There also are security issues. The representative pointed out construction crews are working on the complex and doors have been seen standing wide open.

Topper said security has been increased since the stockpile’s location has become more widely known. He said the Capitol Police have virtually a full-time presence there.

Still, Owlett struggled to find it acceptable even on a temporary basis.“We put it in a flood zone. We didn’t increase protection from rodents. We had doors wide open. People can walk right in. It seems problematic for me,” Owlett said.

Grove, along with two other House committee chairmen, found that just walking into the complex is not always possible. On Wednesday morning, they arrived for what they said was a pre-arranged 9 a.m. visit to inspect the stockpile only to find the doors locked. Security officers inside didn’t let them in.Kensinger, Wolf’s spokeswoman, said that’s because the lawmakers were advised the day before that their visit needed to be rescheduled.

Grove said he didn’t get the message.So instead of inspecting the stockpile, they held a news conference to complain about a lack of transparency by the Wolf Administration and its interference with their ability to carry out their duties.

House GOP locked out of Pa. Farm Show complex

Rep. Seth Grove, R-York County, complains about what he considers a lack of transparency by Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration at a news conference outside of the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex after what he said was a planned visit to inspect the state’s stockpile of PPE didn’t go off. April 21, 2021 Jan Murphy/PennLive

Grove and House Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee Chairman Dan Moul, R-Adams County, also objected to being asked to sign non-disclosure agreements, to keep what they saw in the facility confidential.

“It’s the constitutional duty of the legislative branch to provide legislative oversight of executive agencies,” Grove said. “If we were to see something in here and not report it, we’re not doing our jobs.”

Administration officials said on Wednesday the non-disclosure agreement grows out of security concerns.

“It’s important to note that nothing that was requested of the legislators would have impacted or interfered with their oversight,” said Wolf spokeswoman Elizabeth Rementer.

Nevertheless, a day later, the administration backed off the confidentiality requirement. Topper said during the Senate hearing on Thursday lawmakers touring the facility would not be required to sign the non-disclosure agreement.

Grove said he had yet to receive any information from the administration about rescheduling the tour but said he looks forward to it.

Schwank, who was given a tour Wednesday afternoon, said she saw no need for the Republican House members to turn their inability to access the facility into a political skirmish.

She said she happily signed the non-disclosure agreement. She said her purpose in going to the facility was to gain a better understanding of how full the facility was and why reopening at least portions to event organizers hasn’t been allowed.

The senator came away learning “the issue is somewhat complicated and it needs to be resolved but it’s going to take a little time,” she said. “We have to work with the administration to resolve. So let’s get at it.”


This story originally appeared at pennlive.com.

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