Peters Township Council ‘between a rock and hard place’ on gas lease
Peters Township Council agreed to enter into a non-surface gas lease with EQT Corporation during its regular council meeting May 22.
Council, with recommendation from township manager Paul Lauer, concluded that whether or not it approved the lease, drilling will take place at the site, which includes 25 parcels and nearly 100 acres of land.
“I don’t think that anything we do with regard to approving or disapproving this lease has anything with regard to EQT’s decision-making process to go ahead with drilling at this site,” Lauer said at the meeting. “I think the prudent thing from the municipality’s standpoint is to enter the lease and be the recipient of royalty payments and the signing bonus that would be associated with it.”
Councilman Frank Kosir Jr. agreed, saying in the meeting the council is “between a rock and a hard place,” because whether or not it decides to lease with EQT, the township is going to receive the negative impacts of drilling, like dust and pollution, either way.
“We’re going to suffer the consequences,” Kosir Jr. said. “As callous as it may sound, if we’re going to suffer the pain we might as well take the gain, right?”
The approval of the lease passed with a 5-2 vote, with Robert Lewis and David Ball voting no.
“I’ve certainly consistently opposed this, and that’s certainly not a secret. I do believe we’re aiding and abetting an illegal well site,” Ball said at the meeting. “But I would also like it very clearly understood that by taking the money for this that we are certainly not condoning any type of gas drilling in Peters Township. Any well sites that would be proposed in this township would certainly have to conform to all local, state and federal requirements.”
One of Ball’s concerns is the location of the well site is on residential property. Lauer, who said he understands Ball’s concern, detailed that the closest home will be about 1,500 feet away from the site.
“I have a complete appreciation for people with regards to natural gas drilling who may have concerns for either environmental or health issues that are associated with the gas drilling,” Lauer said in the meeting. “But, having said that, if we decide not to enter into this agreement, (we) will have a pyrrhic victory, because this well is going to be drilled…The only difference will be is that this valuable asset that the community owns, the profits from it will go to other lease holders as well as to EQT.”
Council also unanimously approved a contract to J5 Construction for the Old Oak Road box culvert/bridge rehabilitation project. The township took bids on May 15 from five different companies, with J5’s bid of $156,856 being the lowest. J5 last worked with the township in 2008 when it replaced a culvert on Thompsonville Road.
Construction will take place on Old Oak Road between Oakwood Road and the southern intersection on Route 19.
Solicitor John Smith said with the area being used frequently by school buses, construction will begin after the school year is finished and should take four to six weeks to complete.
The council also approved an easement to future homeowners for a driveway leading up to a house on Thompsonville Road.
Susan and Kurt Schmidt, who live in front of the property being granted an easement, came to speak to the council about their right to use the driveway to reach their backyard.
After heated back-and-forth discussion from the council and the Schmidt’s, the council agreed to make the easement non-exclusive, so if the Schmidt’s can show they have a right to access the driveway, they can use it.