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Hopewell Valley Briefs
An intimate concert series debuts in Lambertville. Plus: Reviewing 'Moon Over Buffalo' at Kelsey Theatre.
Find out what’s going on throughout the Hopewell Valley area inside. Page 2A
VOL. 63, NO. 9
Published every Friday
Friday, March 2, 2018
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Group joins pushback against PennEast pipeline approval By Lea Kahn Staff Writer
A group of property owners has joined the call for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to “re-hear� its approval of the PennEast Pipeline Co.’s application for a natural gas pipeline that stretches from Luzerne Co., Pennsylvania and into Mercer County, New Jersey. Homeowners Against Land Taking-PennEast (HALT) filed the re-hearing request lat week, alleging violations of the federal Natural Gas Act and the 5th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. HALT includes property
owners in Hopewell Township. FERC granted a certificate of public convenience and necessity to PennEast in January - one of many steps before the project can proceed. PennEast still needs approval from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the Delaware River Basin Commission. Nevertheless, PennEast has filed more than 180 eminent domain claims in federal district court in Pennsylvania and New Jersey against property owners who refused to grant easements to allow the company to go onto their land to survey it. Eminent domain is the process that govern-
Local youth’s Eagle Scout project cleans, preserves historic black cemetery By Lea Kahn Staff Writer
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Bruce Harrison has an affinity for the Pennington African Cemetery, which is a small historic cemetery tucked away behind 417 S. Main Street at the edge of Pennington Borough. Many of his ancestors - including his grandfather, Albert Thomas Witcher - are buried in the cemetery, which was set aside for members of Pennington’s black community in the 19th and 20th centuries. So when Harrison needed to find a project to complete the requirements for Eagle Scout - the highest rank in the Boy Scouts of America - it was natural to propose cleaning up and preserving the Pennington African Cemetery. And that’s exactly what Harrison did. The Hopewell Valley Central High School senior gathered up some of the younger Boy Scouts in Boy Scout Troop 44 to collect information on those who are buried in the cemetery. They also built a bench, installed a flagpole and American flag, and added landscaping. “The number one reason for this project is that I have a strong connection with the Pennington African Cemetery. Ever since I can remember, my grandfather spent his time taking care of it,� said Harrison, who often accompanied his late grandfather to the cemetery. “It’s a small historic cemetery, and no one really thinks about it,� Harrison said. “These people - all
of them - contributed to Pennington’s history. I don’t want them to be forgotten. I feel like their history should be preserved and taken care of.� Harrison’s Eagle Scout project is not the first one to focus on the Pennington African Cemetery. An earlier Eagle Scout project, organized by another Boy Scout, resulted in the installation of a bench at the cemetery. Harrison and the younger Scouts built another bench and reinstalled the one that was already there. “A lot of people go to the cemetery and they want to sit near their loved ones,� Harrison said. Descendants of some of the people who are buried there are still living in the area. The last burial took place in the 1960s. But perhaps the most challenging aspect of Harrison’s Eagle Scout project was tracking down the names of the members of the black community who are buried in the cemetery. Harrison said some of the headstones are still standing, but many headstones are non-existent or the inscriptions are unreadable. Where it was possible, the Scouts wrote down the information that they could read on the headstones. To fill in the gaps, Harrison turned to the Blackwell Memorial Home, up the street on N. Main Street in Pennington Borough. The Scouts looked through the records kept by the funeral home, and wrote down the information. The records are hand-written, and sometimes the handwriting was
ments or agencies use to take private property for public use, with the promise of compensation made to the original property owners. HALT’s request for a re-hearing is based on several alleged violations. HALT claims FERC violated the federal Natural Gas Act and the 5th Amendment’s “due process� and “taking� clauses by approving PennEast’s application before the company obtained permission from other agencies, such as the NJDEP and the DRBC. While FERC can approve an application and attach reasonable conditions to it, per the Natural
Gas Act, those reasonable terms and conditions apply to the rates and terms of the initial gas deliveries under the act - not to the environmental review process, HALT said in its request for a rehearing. “Courts have upheld the rights of states to block a FERC-approved project under the Clean Water Act. When FERC grants a certificate without waiting for state and federal agencies to make determinations under federal laws, then FERC is illegally preempting the authority of those agencies,� according to HALT. The request also noted that once FERC issues a certificate of
public convenience and necessity, it grants permission to the applicant to use eminent domain to take land for the project if a property owner refuses to grant an easement. But that was not the intent, HALT claims. FERC “impermissibly extended its powers by prematurely granting conditional certificates� so that PennEast could use eminent domain to gain access to properties in order to gather needed information so it could comply with other rules and regulations, according to the re-hearing request. See PIPELINE, Page 3A
Courtesy photot
Timberlane students of the month
In order to promote student responsibility and reward extraordinary effort, the following students were nominated by their teachers. Back row: Principal Nicole Gianfredi, Gracie Johnson, Ella Zimmerman, Tom Hooks, Harriet Strunk, Kelley Dwyer, Caileigh Ross. Front row: Marius Boukhelifa, Cormac Dow. Not pictured: Sela Horowitz.
Architect says school referendum projects are largely on schedule By Lea Kahn Staff Writer
Work on the $26 million school bond referendum, which is intended to make improvements to several school buildings in the Hopewell Valley Regional School District, is “overall� on time, according to project architect George Duthie. Some projects, such as the renovation to the restrooms in the “300� wing of Central High School, have been completed, Duthie told the school board at its Feb. 12 meeting. New lighting has been installed in many classrooms, including older light See CEMETERY, Page 3A switches that have been replaced
by “occupancy sensors,� he said. The Main Office at the high school has been relocated temporarily while work gets underway on renovations, Duthie said. Work on the exterior masonry walls has begun, and the steel framework for an addition to the school is in place. Meanwhile, several projects have been completed. These include roof replacements at Central High School and the Hopewell Elementary School, and the districtwide clock, public announcement and communications system. Duthie said the summer 2018 projects have gone out to bid - the fire alarm system replacement projects at the Timberlane Middle
School and the Hopewell, Stony Brook and Toll Gate elementary schools, and the heating and air conditioning upgrades at the middle school. Also out to bid are the restroom renovations at Timberlane Middle School and the Bear Tavern, Hopewell and Toll Gate elementary schools. The roof replacement projects for the Timberlane Middle School and Toll Gate Elementary School also are out to bid, Duthie said. “The projects are, generally speaking, on time. We are not expecting any major issues,� Duthie told the school board.
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