Budget proposed with no tax increase

Township seeing high costs from compressor station litigation

WEST ROCKHILL » The township property tax rate stays the same — 7.25 mills — for the proposed 2022 budget, Township Manager Greg Lippincott said at the November 17 West Rockhill Township Board of Supervisors meeting.

“Once again, West Rockhill Township is the lowest in the county of any municipality with a full-time police force,” Lippincott said.

The budget includes $1,170,827 for Pennridge Regional Police Department coverage in 2022, compared to a budgeted $1,093,089 this year, he said.

Road repairs are budgeted at $280,066 next year, compared to $411,320 this year, but the township is also planning to add a $90,000 salt shed, he said.

“That is something that is much needed in the township,” Lippincott said of the salt shed.

Expenses in the proposed $2,480,424 general fund budget include $221,603 for general administration, $192,957 for public works, and $256,116 for employee benefits.

At 7.25 mills, the township tax bill for a home assessed at $40,000 is $290. Each mill equals $1 of tax per $1,000 of assessed property value. The 7.25 mill total includes 6.25 mills for the general fund, 0.75 mills for the fire fund, and 0.25 mills for the road equipment fund.

The board’s final vote on the proposed budget will be at its Wednesday, Dec. 15 meeting.

In another matter at the meeting, Lippincott said he is asked by board members at times about the status of and the costs of the township’s legal battles over a planned compressor station. Adelphia Gateway plans to build the compressor station on Rich Hill Road near the West Rockhill/Richland Township border for an existing pipeline being converted from oil to natural gas.

Residents have raised concerns about the compressor station, including noise, pollution and safety issues.

“To date, the township has spent $241,833.80 on the Adelphia lawsuits,” Lippincott said.

“Wow,” board Chairman David Collingwood said, “could we get some input from our solicitor on this?”

There are two main branches to the lawsuits, Mary Eberle, the township’s solicitor said.

One is an appeal of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s having issued a permit to allow the compressor station to be constructed, she said. The other is an appeal of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection having issued an air quality permit. A state court sided with the township, which argued through environmental attorney Douglas Blazey, that the state’s Environmental Hearing Board, not FERC, should make the decision on the air quality permit appeal, Eberle said, but instead of the case going back to the Environmental Hearing Board, new court cases have been filed by Adelphia. Both the township and a citizens group are taking part in the lawsuits, she said.

“If you’re looking to reduce the money that you’re spending on this piece of litigation, it would be my suggestion that the branch of litigation that could be trimmed is the air quality permit branch,” Eberle said.

“I’m not saying that the air quality permit isn’t important. Of course it is, but if you’re looking to allocate scarce resources in a manner that is most efficient, the air quality permit tangent litigation has mushroomed into a very expensive proposition,” she said.

The air quality permit is a component, but not the main part of the case, she said.

“The FERC permit is the heart and soul of it,” Eberle said.

The best way for the township to reduce its costs in the legal battle would be to end its involvement in the state court issues, she said.

Board member Jay Keyser said construction work for the compressor plant is continuing despite the lawsuits.

“We haven’t done anything to stop them or to slow them down, from my opinion, and I would love for somebody to tell me that I’m wrong,” he said.

“I think we need to focus on FERC,” board member Jim Miller said. “Federal suits are much more important in my mind because they cover the bigger issue.”

“There’s a duplication of effort here with the air quality permit and I think it’s fiscally responsible for us to decide there’s a better way to deal with this,” Collingwood said.

A motion was then made to withdraw from involvement in the state cases.

Resident Cliff Cole, speaking for the citizens’ group, asked the board not to make a decision on that until the a court ruling is received on the federal case.

“Let’s not lose faith here and let’s believe in the process,” Cole said.

“We’ve been fighting this and this is what Adelphia wants to do to bleed us dry,” said Christine Shelly, whose home neighbors the compressor site.

“This is not the time to give up. That’s what they want,” she said.

“If you stop now, it essentially negates the money that you’ve already spent, but by waiting for judges’ decisions, I think it gives you a potential cleaner stopping point,” resident John Sweriduk said.

“What Mr. Cole and the other commenters have said is absolutely true. Adelphia is trying to make it very, very expensive for you to remain in this litigation, but they’re succeeding,” Eberle said.

It will likely be awhile before rulings are made in the cases and there could be additional costs before that happens, she said.

The board unanimously approved withdrawing from the state cases.