New Freeport mayor eager to help residents, local businesses

New Freeport Mayor Zachary Gent greeted business owners and others while strolling through the town in sandals in late September, which is appropriate for this river-loving town.

He succeeds longtime Mayor James Swartz Jr., who resigned in June. Borough council had difficulty finding candidates and, several months later, voted unanimously to appoint Gent.

He was sworn in Friday by District Judge J. Gary DeComo.

Gent gave up his seat on council to finish Swartz’s term until the end of the year. He is running for the mayor’s position in the Nov. 8 general election.

“We’re happy to have Zack as mayor,” council President Clint Warnock said. “He’ll do as wonderful a job as he did on council.”

Gent, 36, is a father of three and works as a service coordinator for the southern United States for Ecolab, a global company specializing in water, hygiene and infection prevention.

Describing himself as a moderate Republican, Gent said he wants to help residents and council any way he can in the next three months.

Succeeding Swartz is a tall order, he said: “I know that I have big shoes to fill, and the relationships he built over 20 years, those don’t get handed down. They get rebuilt.”

Swartz has been meeting with Gent to offer support.

“I’m showing him, ‘This is what I do,’ and now, ‘You do what you want to do,’ ” Swartz said.

A big thing to do is to secure more grants for the town’s $16.9 million sewage project. Although the town received an $11 million state grant, Swartz was working on finding more grant money and put the borough in the running for a $1.5 million federal grant from U.S. Sen. Bob Casey’s office.

“Somebody better keep contact with Casey’s office,” Swartz said. “You have got to be forceful when you’re looking for money from grants.”

Swartz is optimistic about Gent.

“If he puts his mind to it, he’ll do a good job,” Swartz said.

In the short run, Gent said he wanted to help support local businesses.

Freeport has become more of a walkable town with most consumer items available in stores within walking distance in the business district, he noted.

The riverside town has seen a resurgence of new storefronts in the past several years, including Dollar General, GlampinGals Boutique, Lock Five Tavern, Fermented, Washed Away laundromat and pet wash, 1833 Coffee and Tea Co., Rai’s Spa, The Mercantile, the Brickyard (formerly Lucy’s Riverside Café) and G&T Sports Cards Plus.

“You can shop for basic essentials, except for meats, fruits and vegetables,” Gent said. “You don’t have to drive to Natrona Heights to get a gallon of milk.”

He would like to see a vendor bring in fresh food regularly someday.

“The goal is to help the older residents get everything here,” he said, noting that Armstrong County doesn’t run a bus line in town.

Gent will continue to promote the town’s recreational assets — its riverfront park and the Butler-Freeport Community Trail, with its trailhead in Laneville where Gent lives.

The Freeport section of the Allegheny is beautiful and among the safest parts of the river for recreation, as there is little commercial traffic, Gent noted.

In addition, there is a short waiting list to lease dock space, which is open to nonborough residents.

While boaters use the borough’s docks to stop at local restaurants and stores, the trail users aren’t affected by the weather as much, he noted.

“When it is a 40-degree day in January, it’s warm enough for people to be on the trail,” he said.

Gent is taking cues from the recent redevelopment success in New Kensington. For inspiration, he credits Kevin and Mary Bode, founders of the Knead Community Café that melds nutritious food with community service.

“They are one of the reasons I wanted to get into local politics,” he said.