Story by Curtis Walsh – Beaver County Radio News Director. Published August 8, 2023 10:35 pm. The photo above shows Tyrone Zeigler among other community members outside of the Beaver Falls City Building following the meeting.
(Beaver Falls, PA) A line that extended down the stairs and out of the door at the Beaver Falls City Building was the sight just before the City Council meeting took place at 7pm Tuesday evening. Council were assisted by the fire department to keep the occupancy in the meeting under control, allowing only a set number if people in the room, leaving others to stand in the hall and downstairs. The large attendance was due to supporters of the Tigerland Inc. wave pool revival project led by Tyrone Zeigler.
After the regular meeting agenda items were taken care of, Council opened the floor for public comment. The first to take the floor was Brian Farrington, an attorney for Zeigler and Tigerland Inc., who gave a three minute update on the status of Tigerland’s efforts. Farrington said that an official business plan has been produced and Tigerland is hoping to pursue a renegotiation of the wave pool property.
Farrington was cut off by Beaver Falls Mayor Kenya Johns after 3 minutes due to being over the amount of time allowed for public comment. Council was questioned as to why a request by Tigerland Inc. and Zeigler to be included on the agenda had been approved prior to the meeting but was absent from the agenda. Council member Peggy Evans stated, “We are aware, no comment”. Mayor Johns and Solicitor Shannon Steele reiterated that Council had expected Tigerland to be present at the previous meeting, but nobody showed up.
Community members proceeded to take the floor and voice their questions and frustrations with the Council regarding the wave pool. One woman of the community stated “Our children need a place to go to learn how to swim”, “We need to set the egos in the trash can”. Solicitor Steele noted that the previous wave pool negotiations fell through because terms of the deal on both sides were not being met. These terms could not be discussed publicly for legal reasons, according to Council.
One woman asked Council who has had the key to the pool. Mayor Johns replied after a brief pause that the city has the key and would not elaborate further as to if Zeigler was ever given a key.
A pool repair contractor who allegedly worked on the pool installing a new water line and checking pipe integrity for Zeigler questioned a remark made by Mayor Johns that nothing has been done to the pool. Johns replied that she stated “nothing significant has been done”. When asked whether the City would be willing to renegotiate with Tigerland, Mayor Johns said she could not make a comment due to it being a legal matter.
Beaver County Radio spoke one on one with Zeigler following the meeting.
Zeigler says Council asked his former attorney to have him sign a non-disparagement clause to not allow himself or anyone from Tigerland Inc. to say anything negative about the city.
Zeigler said “it was supposed to be a mutual agreement, but the city came back and said no”, adding “I’m not here to say anything bad about the city, I’m here to hold people accountable for holding me up”.
When Zeigler was asked about Council saying no significant work was done to the pool he replied, “that’s not true, just like a bunch of other things they said was untrue, the whole world seen me out there working on the pool, from fixing the service line, to gutting out the bathrooms, the office, the concessions stand.”
Zeigler says he has had a key to the pool and still does. Beaver County Radio asked Zeigler about concerns over whether money raised for the pool was safe and what he would say to those who are questioning him about it. He responded “those people need to read more, there’s no way for me to even touch this money, it’s always been under a nonprofit, it was under Beaver Falls CDC at first, now it is under Tigerland Inc., for me to even get any money, the board would have to vote first, it’s not possible for me to take any money, people need to stand behind me and stop chasing ghosts.”
When Ziegler was asked what the best possible scenario is for him looking forward, he said “I’m willing to get back to the table and work this out, it’s not fair to the community or the kids cause at the end of the day, that’s who it’s hurting.”
Zeigler has been pursuing the wave pool revival project for seven years. Beaver Falls City Council recently announced that they have cut ties with Tigerland Inc. and Zeigler.