Erie County Veterans Affairs office to move to Intermodal Transportation Center

The Erie County Department of Veterans Affairs, which has long been housed in a small, first floor office at the Erie County Courthouse, will soon relocate to the Erie Intermodal Transportation Center by the bayfront.

The move, which was finalized Tuesday after Erie County Council approved a five-year lease for the new space, is expected to give veterans a more comfortable, spacious and accessible office to address their needs.

The new office — located in Suite 102 at the 208 East Bayfront Parkway center — has a lease term of April 1 through March 31, 2028.

A grand opening is projected for June, according to the administration.

Why the Intermodal Transportation Center?

In his request to council, Erie County Department of Veterans Affairs Director Joe Benacci said veterans have often experienced difficulty accessing the Veterans Affairs office at the courthouse.

Reasons include metered or unavailable parking near the entrance, front door security and the locking of cellphones, and the lack of client privacy in a confined space.

"A number of our customers are elderly, some with physical disabilities while others face mental health conditions such as anxiety and PTSD making it difficult for them to visit our office or not come in at all," Benacci said.

By contrast, the Intermodal Transportation Center offers plenty of free parking along with six handicap parking spaces, five reserved spaces, direct access to the EMTA bus routes and clear walkways from the parking lot to the building, Benacci said.

Veterans can also be dropped off right at the front door, use electronic handicap access doors and not have to pass through metal detectors or armed personnel — all of which can pose challenges for those with physical disabilities or mental health issues, Benacci said.

The goal of the new 1,440-square foot office space is to provide a relaxed atmosphere for veterans, Benacci said, with available computers to access and print records and space for educational sessions and other veteran events.

How much will this cost?

The Department of Veterans Affairs requested a supplemental appropriation of $38,252 for the relocation, with $24,252 of that amount as a one-time transition expense for office furniture, phone service and office expenses, and the remaining $14,000 as a yearly operating expense, which includes rent, internet and general operating expenses, according to the administration.

The five-year lease will cost $11,400 per year, which comes to $950 a month.

"It's a small price to pay to invest in our veterans who have written a check payable to the taxpayers of the United States up to and including their life," Erie County Executive Brenton Davis said in an email to the Erie Times-News.

Davis said the relocation will allow the county's IT department to move into the Veterans Affairs office space in the courthouse. It will also allow the Economic Development Department, led by former Erie Mayor Joe Sinnott, to move into the IT department's former space near the county executive's office on the fifth floor of the courthouse.

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"For less than $1,000 a month, all of these moves can take place," Davis said.

Council on Tuesday voted 5-2 in favor of both the supplemental appropriation and the lease agreement, with Democratic members Andre Horton and Mary Rennie voting against due to concerns the additional cost will expand the budget deficit.

Horton and Rennie also voiced concern that upcoming road repairs by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation on the Bayfront Parkway might restrict access to the new office.

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Davis told the Times-News his administration will watch the PennDOT project closely but believes the relocation outweighs the "temporary inconvenience."

"There are many businesses that will be impacted, including the Blasco Library, the Port Authority, VisitErie, the Greyhound bus terminal, as well as others," he said. "None of these businesses will have to shut down during this project."

How to contact the Veterans Affairs Department?

There are roughly 18,000 veterans in Erie County, according to the Veterans Affairs Department.

Davis said the department in 2022 completed more than 1,400 administrative actions serving veterans and that service-connected disability claims have tripled since Benacci was appointed in February 2022.

To contact the Erie County Department of Veterans Affairs, call 814-451-6265 or email veteraninfo@eriecountypa.gov.

A.J. Rao can be reached at arao@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNRao.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie County Veterans office to move to transportation center