The Review moves to ensure Wyalusing supervisors decide plants' permit openly
The Daily Review
The Daily & Sunday Review on Saturday lodged a protest with Wyalusing Township supervisors over their decision to discuss and decide privately, following two days of public hearings, the controversial application for a conditional use permit for three plants proposed for the township.
Marvin Meteer, chairman of the Wyalusing Township supervisors, said Friday, "We did not make any decisions" at Thursday night's meeting. "We will be formulating a decision with our attorney" on whether to grant the conditional use permit, he said.
The decision will be announced at a public meeting, said Meteer, who added that it was too early to determine when the public meeting will be held.
Ronald W. Hosie, editor of The Daily & Sunday Review, said Saturday the apparent decision to discuss privately the testimony from the public hearing, and what decision to reach, seems to be a violation of the state's Sunshine Act governing open meetings.
Section 702 of the Sunshine Act says, "The General Assembly finds that the right of the public to be present at all meetings of agencies and to witness the deliberation, policy formulation and decision-making of agencies is vital to the enhancement and proper functioning of the democratic process, and that secrecy in public affairs undermines the faith of the public in government and the public's effectiveness in fulfilling its role in a democratic society."
The act does allow for closed sessions in some circumstances, such as to discuss personnel, or litigation, among other matters. Any decision must be announced in open session.
Nevertheless, Hosie said, the law seems to require that the reasons for holding such a meeting in private must be articulated in a public meeting beforehand, and no such explanation was offered during the public hearing.
"My concern," Hosie said, "is that for an issue of such overriding importance, the supervisors and their lawyer intend on discussing what to do among themselves, and residents of the township will not have the benefit of that spontaneous discussion, as it unfolds, and debate, if any. In my opinion," he said, "that would undermine the spirit of the law."
The law states that the General Assembly "hereby declares it to be the public policy of this Commonwealth to insure the right of its citizens to have notice of, and the right to attend, all meetings of agencies at which any agency business is discussed or acted uponâ¦" The key, according to Hosie, is the right of a citizen to attend any session in which the public's business is discussed.
Even if a technicality allowed the township to legally have a closed session, Hosie said, "The supervisors should reject that course of action, and hold all deliberative sessions in the open. It's in the best interests of the residents," Hosie said. Economic, environmental, infrastructure and quality of life considerations are at stake, according to Hosie. "These need to be fully discussed in open, not secret, session," he said.
The plants are proposed to treat waste water from the hydraulic fracturing of natural gas wells, to manufacture synthetic drilling mud, and to manufacture asphalt for paving. If approved, the plants would be built on a 26-acre site owned by Glenn O. Hawbaker Inc. in an agricultural and residential section off Route 6 in the Browntown village portion of the township.
Dozens of people attended the hearings, the second of which was Thursday, and all of those who spoke then opposed the plants.
Neither Mateer and the other township supervisors, nor the township secretary could be reached Saturday to answer questions to clarify the nature of the proposed meeting with the solicitor.
Messages were left at the phone numbers listed on the township's website. No phone number for Marvin Mateer could be found in the 2011 telephone directory. In one of the calls to Mateer, Hosie notified him of The Review's protest.
None of the requests for comment had been answered by the normal close of business on Saturday.
The Daily & Sunday Review on Saturday lodged a protest with Wyalusing Township supervisors over their decision to discuss and decide privately, following two days of public hearings, the controversial application for a conditional use permit for three plants proposed for the township.
Marvin Meteer, chairman of the Wyalusing Township supervisors, said Friday, "We did not make any decisions" at Thursday night's meeting. "We will be formulating a decision with our attorney" on whether to grant the conditional use permit, he said.
The decision will be announced at a public meeting, said Meteer, who added that it was too early to determine when the public meeting will be held.
Ronald W. Hosie, editor of The Daily & Sunday Review, said Saturday the apparent decision to discuss privately the testimony from the public hearing, and what decision to reach, seems to be a violation of the state's Sunshine Act governing open meetings.
Section 702 of the Sunshine Act says, "The General Assembly finds that the right of the public to be present at all meetings of agencies and to witness the deliberation, policy formulation and decision-making of agencies is vital to the enhancement and proper functioning of the democratic process, and that secrecy in public affairs undermines the faith of the public in government and the public's effectiveness in fulfilling its role in a democratic society."
The act does allow for closed sessions in some circumstances, such as to discuss personnel, or litigation, among other matters. Any decision must be announced in open session.
Nevertheless, Hosie said, the law seems to require that the reasons for holding such a meeting in private must be articulated in a public meeting beforehand, and no such explanation was offered during the public hearing.
"My concern," Hosie said, "is that for an issue of such overriding importance, the supervisors and their lawyer intend on discussing what to do among themselves, and residents of the township will not have the benefit of that spontaneous discussion, as it unfolds, and debate, if any. In my opinion," he said, "that would undermine the spirit of the law."
The law states that the General Assembly "hereby declares it to be the public policy of this Commonwealth to insure the right of its citizens to have notice of, and the right to attend, all meetings of agencies at which any agency business is discussed or acted uponâ¦" The key, according to Hosie, is the right of a citizen to attend any session in which the public's business is discussed.
Even if a technicality allowed the township to legally have a closed session, Hosie said, "The supervisors should reject that course of action, and hold all deliberative sessions in the open. It's in the best interests of the residents," Hosie said. Economic, environmental, infrastructure and quality of life considerations are at stake, according to Hosie. "These need to be fully discussed in open, not secret, session," he said.
The plants are proposed to treat waste water from the hydraulic fracturing of natural gas wells, to manufacture synthetic drilling mud, and to manufacture asphalt for paving. If approved, the plants would be built on a 26-acre site owned by Glenn O. Hawbaker Inc. in an agricultural and residential section off Route 6 in the Browntown village portion of the township.
Dozens of people attended the hearings, the second of which was Thursday, and all of those who spoke then opposed the plants.
Neither Mateer and the other township supervisors, nor the township secretary could be reached Saturday to answer questions to clarify the nature of the proposed meeting with the solicitor.
Messages were left at the phone numbers listed on the township's website. No phone number for Marvin Mateer could be found in the 2011 telephone directory. In one of the calls to Mateer, Hosie notified him of The Review's protest.
None of the requests for comment had been answered by the normal close of business on Saturday.
