Sound levels at a controversial Forest Lake Twp. gas compression site now comply with local ordinances, clearing the final hurdle for Xpress Natural Gas LLC to obtain permanent permitting approval, a county planning board official has confirmed.

After months of skirmishing with Xpress Natural Gas LLC representatives over evidence of scientific proof of noise levels at its 130,000 square foot Lake Hill Road site, county officials had hoped for a legal showdown at a court hearing scheduled for earlier this week.

But proof that noise levels at the site now comply with local ordinances means that the county has no further choice but to grant Xpress Natural Gas, known as XNG, final approval, county planning commission head Robert G. Templeton said.

“As long as they pass the sound study, we have to approve it,” Templeton said late last week.  Templeton said the commission expected to have a copy of the sound study, performed by Houston, Texas, based sound engineering firm Hoover and Keith, in hand by week’s end.

The county’s receipt of the results of the sound study, the lack of which formed the basis of its lawsuit filed late last month, put a halt to the scheduled hearing and put a hold on the anticipated showdown.

Tensions between XNG and the county flared over the spring and summer when it was discovered that XNG had waited until May to inform county officials about negative sound study results from the February test, also by Hoover and Keith.   The county planning commission had earlier that month granted XNG approval to operate under the condition it report the results of that sound study.

In a 64-page petition filed late last month, the commission asked Judge Jason Legg for a $500-a-day penalty against XNG.

 XNG’s lawyer said in his written response that the site had already shut down for the purposes of installing sound deadening measures and wouldn’t open again until they could prove it complied with local ordinances.

The $500-a-day penalty, if enforced by the judge, could have cost XNG more than $70,000 if calculated from the date XNG opened the site in February.

XNG’s lawyer, Steven B. Silverman, said in papers filed in court that Susquehanna County Solicitor Michael J. Giangrieco told him the county would drop its litigation if tests showed the plant complied and “the parties can resolve Plaintiff’s request for a monetary payment.”

Silverman did not respond to a voice mail left with his Pittsburgh office.

County officials showed frustration with what they alleged was XNG’s exploitation of the planning board’s long standing practice of granting conditional final approvals to projects.

Because of this case, Susquehanna County will no longer grant conditional final approvals, Templeton said last week, repeating what county commissioner’s chairman Alan B. Hall had said at the June 28 commissioners meeting.

Templeton said that in the past companies complied with requirements like the sound study, but in this case XNG failed to comply, forcing the county to change its longstanding procedures.

“Well, this time it didn’t work,” he said.

Township residents living near the site continue to complain of loud noise from the compressors as well as unpleasant odors.

“We need to be more stringent in giving final approval to companies that can be problematic,” said local political watchdog Vera Scroggins.

Based in Boston and Stratham, New Hampshire, XNG runs sites like the one on Lake Hill Road which compresses natural gas from local companies to make it easier to transport long distances.

In March the DEP announced that it awarded XNG a $200,000 Alternative Fuels Incentive Grant to allow the company to buy 10 compressed gas transport vehicles.  Prior to that, in January, DEP gave XNG $176,000 in job creation tax credits and an $11,050 employee training grant.

The head of the union representing teachers in their second year of hashing out a contract with the Montrose Area School Board says that contract negotiation figures posted on the district’s website are deliberately misleading.

The Montrose Education Association, or MEA, is always willing to talk with the district to reach an agreement, but both sides much must not engage in “stubbornness,” said teacher’s head Teri Evans.

“All in all, we are very close to getting this done, but we can’t negotiate a fair deal with people who are blinded by their own stubbornness,” Evans said in an e-mail.

Evans made her remarks in a series of e-mails sent in response to an open letter regarding the status of the closed door negotiations posted late last month on the district’s public website.  Earlier, details on the negotiations had been kept from the public through an exemption to the state’s Sunshine Act, which otherwise requires meetings to be open to the public.  Posting the negotiations update on the district’s website was done without the teachers union’s knowledge, Evans confirmed.

Contacted for a response, Montrose Superintendent of Schools Carol Boyce advised a reporter through an e-mail that she would be out of town until later this month and therefore could not be reached for comment. Boyce referred questions to the district’s head negotiator, John Audi.  Audi did not respond to the reporter to an e-mail forwarded him by Boyce.

In its negotiations update, the district said that it has offered the 125 teachers involved a 3.64% increase for the 2017-2018 year, an offer described as its “last and final.”  Future increases listed for teachers are 3.03% for 2018-2019 and 2.20% for 2019-2020.  The update also says that each member of the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 bargaining unit would get a $500 signing bonus, not part of the regular salary schedule.

But Evans said that the 3.64% pay increase cited by the district for 2017-2018 is misleading as the district’s calculations include salaries for two teachers who are retiring.

The MEA says that when the salaries for the two retiring teachers are taken out and only the salaries for the correct number of teachers are figured in, the raise only amounts to 1.78% at a cost of $147,000 for the 2017-2018 school year and not the 3.64% claimed by the district.  According to the MEA’s figures, the correct estimates for the following years should be 1.2% for 2018-2019 at a cost of $103,000 and not the 3.02% the district claims, and in 2019-2020, 0.4% for a cost of $39,000 instead of the 2.20% the district maintains.  The district has additionally told the teachers it will no longer buy back unused sick days.

As to health care, Boyce said earlier that teacher raises will be funded by savings generated through a projected $1.5 million drop in costs when the district changes health care plans.

Hearing that, Evans noted that part of the increase in savings in health care costs will be due to increases in teacher’s premiums and deductibles, particularly when teachers do not max out their deductibles.

 “Because of these savings, it is not true when [school superintendent] Carol Boyce states that all of the savings will go directly to the teachers' salaries.  She is misleading the public,” Evans said in an e-mail.

Montrose school district teachers have worked for almost two years without a contract.

MEA members filled a picket line in late March of last year after contract talks with the MASB stalled.

A brief step back in time greeted visitors to downtown Montrose on the Fourth of July as the country celebrated its 241st birthday last week with fireworks, a parade, Old Glory, good food and cool cars.

Sponsored by the local Kiwanis, Lions and Rotary Clubs, the Montrose 4th of July Celebration drew record crowds under brilliantly sunny skies.

“This is probably, weather wise the best year we’ve ever had,” Montrose 4th of July Celebration Chairman Ed DeWitt said in a pre-parade staging area off of Grow Avenue.

DeWitt estimated that more than 10,000 people from the Montrose area and communities north of the nearby New York state line attended this year’s festivities, the parade’s 41st anniversary.

Asked why so many would travel from so far to a town of less than 2,000 just to see a parade, DeWitt didn’t hesitate a moment to answer.

“Communities nowadays don’t have parades.  They have fireworks and other things, but as far as a parade of the caliber that we have here, they just don’t do it,” he said, smiling.

Spectators watch part of the 2017 Montrose 4th of July parade

Featuring 25 floats, a stream of gleaming fire and rescue apparatus from many of the county’s local fire companies, the parade featured high kicking majorettes leading uniformed marching units, many sponsored by local schools, veterans’ and other civic organizations; bands on flatbeds and motorcycles.  Two footraces, a 5K and a 10K, both sponsored by the Lions and Rotary Clubs, were run earlier in the day.  There was also a pancake breakfast and, of course, fireworks.

Then there were the cars.  Cars, cars, lots of cars:  Antique cars, classic cars, big cars, even a little tiny light blue car that looked like it belonged in soap box derby.  Corvettes, old-fashioned fancy open top touring cars, a Volkswagen “Bug” and its distant cousin, the unusual mid-engine, two-trunk Porsche 914.

George Schaefer of Brooklyn Twp. stood by his heavily modified and completely street legal 1927 Ford Model T roadster with its 327 cubic inch Chevrolet motor which puts out close to 500 horsepower.  (The license plate frame reads “Ford Powered By Chevy”)

“It’s bored, it’s stroked, the heads are milled,” he told a reporter, who dutifully nodded his head as if he understood what things like “roller rockers” and “a big cam” meant in relation to his shiny black car.

Schaefer, a retiree from the nuclear power industry, also has a bright red 1939 Chevrolet which he plans on bringing to the parade next year.

Asked why he came to the parade in Montrose, Schaefer said he just liked talking to people.

“People, just like talking to you,” he said.

“I go to car shows all the time.  I don’t care about trophies.  I like to go to talk the people,” Schaefer said.

George Schaefer of Brooklyn Township takes in the sights next to his customized 1927 Ford Model T before joining the parade

Craig Waldo and his son, Don, both from Apalachin, N.Y., decided to cruise south in elegance in their 1956 Lincoln Premiere, a sleek sedan with the presence of a limousine.

Built for comfort and not for speed -- unlike Schaefer’s roadster -- the Premier turned heads left and right, attracted by its hint of nostalgia as opposed to the roadster’s lure of high speed excitement.

A 1956 Lincoln Premier, owned by Craig Waldo, of Apalachin NY, gleams while waiting to join the Montrose 4th of July parade

The younger Waldo enjoys the little bit of a trip back in time offered every year by the Montrose 4th of July Parade.

“It’s a great parade.  It’s like old-Time America,” he said. 

While the car occasionally visits festivals and car shows, usually in upstate New York, Montrose is its only parade and has been, with a few breaks, for the past ten years.

“This is about the only one he does,” Waldo said.

Meanwhile, little kids in the shoulder of the road cheerfully fought over tiny rolls of Smarties candies, bite-sized Baby Ruths, Snickers and lollipops of all colors and tastes thrown from passing pickup trucks, emergency vehicles, souped up cars and makeshift flatbed bandstands.

Andrea Hurtak of Bridgewater Twp., who was enjoying a rare day off of work, watched her children, Noah, 7, and Zoey, 4, scramble after each burst of plastic and paper wrapped candies thrown from the cars, trucks and tractors passing by.

Zoey Hurtak, 4, of Bridgewater Township, waits for another shower of candy

Eric Van Ostrand lives with his sons Kodiak, 5, and Ranger, in Seattle, Washington, where he works in the stone industry.  Van Ostrand is originally from this area.

Chatting on a shady knoll overlooking the village green with its motley collection of craft booths brustling with brochures advocating environmentally friendly behaviours and food stands brustling with foods so delicious most physicians usually advise against, Van Ostrand watched and listened as his boys shot foam arrows at each other’s heads and screamed and played. 

Van Ostrand hadn’t been to the Montrose parade in probably 15 years but said he was enjoying his visit back.

“Just being with family here, more than anything.  Just growing up.  Memories of being here, growing up local,” he said, describing his thoughts.

Standing nearby was Betsy Arnold, the vice chairman of the county commissioners.  Arnold, a Susquehanna County native, said that she has been coming to the 4th of July parade in Montrose since she was a little girl.  Some of the faces have changed but the event still welcomes her year after year.

When Harry Ehrie shows up, it means the party, or at least the parade, is over

“I think every year it grows.  We have a really nice variety of vendors that come out with all sorts of goods.  We have a lot of talented people here, right in our county, a lot of artists, from pottery to paintings to handmade items to woodwork items,” she said.

Beavers have taken over the wetland area alongside Rt. 11 in New Milford Borough and members of Council are very concerned.  During Council’s meeting on July 7th Councilman Lawrence White stated he spoke with an officer from the Pennsylvania Game Commission and they went over the parameters of the beaver situation, and what methods they could use to rectify the situation.  The agent from the Game Commission stated there are deterrent systems that would keep the beavers out, but the dam is already constructed.  Councilman White stated the United States Department of Agriculture would be sending over a biologist to view the dam and speak with them about their options. 

Members of Council spoke for a few minutes on how previous flooding issues had affected the borough, and if the dam breaks all the debris could possibly shut down Rt. 11.  If this were to happen it would create a safety hazard since fire trucks and ambulances wouldn’t be able to gain access to Rt. 81 through New Milford.  Businesses and homes susceptible to flooding in this area would sustain major damage.

Council President Rick Ainey stated they received a notification Pump and Pantry would like to transfer a liquor license from Forest City to use in New Milford Borough which would allow them to sell beer at the store.  The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board would need approval from Council by way of a Resolution.  Council members motioned to advertise for a public hearing to be held at the July 20th meeting.

Vestal Asphalt sent an agent to review the roads in the Borough with Councilman White, who stated the agent worked on a scale from one to ten, and overall the streets are in good condition.  Councilman White said some restoration work was needed, and certain streets need to be tarred and chipped. 

Continuing his report, Councilman White stated Peck Hill had seventy to one hundred loads of Shot Rock placed and leveled on the road, and the job is completed.

Council unanimously approved by motion to crack seal Orchard Street in the amount of four thousand three hundred dollars, and install a new catch basin on Spring Street in the amount of one thousand eight hundred and fifty dollars.

A new lifeguard chair, to be built by Chuck Lempke for the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars was unanimously approved by Council.

Construction for the SR 2021 bridge, spanning I-81 in Lenox Township, Susquehanna County, is scheduled to begin as part of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s (PennDOT) Rapid Bridge Replacement Project. Replacement of this bridge will allow PennDOT to remove it from Susquehanna County’s structurally deficient bridge list.  

Construction is expected to begin during the week of July 17 and be completed in late October. During this time, drivers will be directed to follow a detour along SR 2035, SR 2037 and High Bridge Road.

This bridge is referred to as JV-154 and is one out of the 558 bridges being replaced under the Rapid Bridge Replacement Project. JV references the joint-venture partnership between Walsh/Granite, which is leading construction for the entire project.