Some Cambria County leaders say a foreign trade zone will spur economic growth locally, but not everybody is on board. That's partially because two of the three commissioners voted to take power away from the airport authority.

After his recent trip to Argentina to secure negotiations to import wine, president commissioner Doug Lengenfelder said the opportunities for a foreign trade zone appear to be much greater than he originally thought and could provide greater growth for businesses throughout the county, possibly the region.

"(What you're going to see is) a higher authority or board, that will hopefully be able to bring about greater opportunity within our county," said Lengenfelder.

Creation of a new "economic development authority" passed with the usual 2-1 vote at Thursday morning's Cambria County Commissioners meeting. Tom Chernisky opposed the motion, saying he'd like to first see if local organizations could take charge.

"I'm for the concept, a foreign free trade zone and economic development, but I think before we do this we need to revisit Johnstown Area Regional Industries again," said Chernisky. "Maybe JARI can handle this if we fund them, you know, just see what they have to say."

But that's when tensions rose. Lengenfelder got the last word, saying he's already reached out.

"Tom is more than free to talk as much as he wants and work with as many organizations as he wants," said Lengenfelder. "I would welcome that ... Some active participation."

And just minutes after the meeting this message was sent by the county's Twitter account:

"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem."

Cambria County Controller Ed Cernic said he's all for creating economic development, but not at the risk of taxpayer money.

"I'm just concerned about another layer of bureaucracy and another funding source that the county might be exposed to in the future in relationship to another authority," said Cernic.

But Lengenfelder said he's moving forward, already in trade discussions with other nations including Bulgaria, but he wouldn't give details.

"Business negotiations can be very sensitive and I'd like to just leave it at that, thank you," he said.

It's anticipated to take several months before the new authority will be created. Cernic told 6 News the airport authority has not yet officially voted to step down from the venture, but Lengenfelder insisted they've already agreed.

Calls to members of the Cambria County Airport Authority went unanswered Thursday afternoon.