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VOLUME 14, NUMBER 8
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Penn Forest supervisors vote to petition court re Atlantic Wind by Seth Isenberg A special Penn Forest Township supervisors meeting held during the afternoon of Tuesday, January 18 discussed the court opinion that Atlantic Wind was turned down improperly for their proposed wind farm in the township.
Supervisors spent most of an hour in executive session, as the township will be engaged again in litigation on this issue. After the executive session ended, supervisors voted to have township solicitor Tom Nanovic file a petition to rehear the arguments regarding
the proposed windmills installation in the township. He was further instructed to file an appeal if needed. Atlantic Wind’s proposal was to erect 28 windmills on Bethlehem Water Authority land along the top of the ridge in the area near Hatchery Road. The windmills would
be nearly 600 feet tall. In late 2018, after months of public hearings before the Penn Forest zoning hearing board, that board voted to deny the application. Commonwealth Court Judge Anne Covey issued a decision last week that the township’s zoning hearing board did not have enough
evidence to reject the project based on noise limits. This reactivates the proposal in the courts. More details as to what steps will be next are to come. A citizens group had hired their own attorney to oppose the project. A contact to their attorney was not returned.
Kidder Township changes meeting night, oks hearing on solar farm by Seth Isenberg At their regular monthly supervisors meeting, supervisors reset their calendar to have their meetings on the fourth Tuesday of the month. That was a change from their decision at the reorganization meeting, to change to the third Wednesday from the current third Thursday. The new meeting schedule will begin in February, with a meeting on the 22nd. The proposed Mora Solar solar farm on Blue Ridge Real Estate land east of the Turnpike will soon get a public hearing. The developers of the project, on a remote parcel of approximately 500 acres, seek an amendment to the zoning ordinance to permit a large commercial solar farm. Conditions include that a farm such as this will be on at least 200 acres, will be at least 500
feet away from any homes, will have the acceptance from the power grid to take its output and a transmission line on or through the property, will be under two miles from a substation, will not exceed 50% impervious surface (current rules allow 70%), and will reforest the site after the project’s lifespan is complete. Supervisors gave their conditional approval, and agreed to schedule a hearing for the public at a date to be announced. Also receiving conditional approvals were Hickory Run State Park’s plan to build new bathhouses / latrines, at three existing and one new site, a lot combination for a Pocono Mountain Lake landowner, and a subdivision on the Mountain Laurel Resort property. A request by the PennEast Pipeline company to withdraw its plan for a compressor sta-
tion was tabled. In other business, township attorney Casey Gillespie attended her last meeting, as she has accepted new duties with the Luzerne County courts that will make her unavailable. Supervisors voted to name attorney Robert Yurchak, of Weatherly, to serve as the township’s attorney. Yurchak, shown above, has an extensive background in township work. Supervisors appointed two employees of ARRO Engineering, the township’s engineer, Bill McMullen and Shannon Darker, to be alternate zoning officers. See KIDDER, page 3
Patrick Holland was sworn in as the newest member of the Penn Forest Township board of supervisors at their reorganization meeting January 3.
Penn Forest supervisors hear complaints over Rt 903 safety by Seth Isenberg At the January Penn Forest Township supervisors meeting, citizens came to complain about speeding and dangerous driving on Route 903 just south of the Turnpike. The
recent fatal crash in this area brought Tim Kennedy out to ask about getting the speed limit lowered on Route 903. He also suggested a flashing light in front of the ambulance garage. He pointed out that See PENN FOREST0, page 2