Dec 30, 2014 4 min read

Robinson Township residents will have no real estate tax increase in 2015, but some officials fear that hefty legal fees will tip their balanced budget.

Township manager Erin Sakalik said the board hopes to expand its tight-quartered municipal building in the new year, but may need to use some funds set aside for that project to cover legal expenses instead. The township is defending itself against two challenges to the validity of its zoning amendment, which passed with a 2-1 vote in August. A second hearing on the matter is scheduled for 6 p.m. Jan. 6 at the Midway fire hall.

“It’s going to kind of rock our budget a little bit with the legal expenses,” Sakalik said.

The township spent about $13,000 so far on legal fees related to the first zoning challenge, which was filed in September by attorney Dwight Ferguson on behalf of six township residents. The second challenge by the same parties was filed this month.

Challengers argued the zoning amendment opened up more areas in the township to natural gas drilling despite protections under the Environmental Rights Amendment in the Pennsylvania Constitution. Residents named in the challenge – all from Bulger – are Cathy and Christopher Lodge, Brenda and Nolan Vance and Irene and Richard Barrie.

They argued in the most recent challenge that the amendment “seeks, as its sole objective, maximizing oil and gas development without considering or prioritizing the public interests of the township and its community as a whole.”

Ferguson said he filed another challenge after he learned through a Right to Know request the township approved several oil and gas applications under the new ordinance, which he said is prohibited during a zoning challenge. He said the township approved a zoning permit application for the Moore Park well site, which is “a few hundred feet from the property and residence of challengers Brenda and Nolan Vance,” according to the challenge. Those residents have concerns about their health, property values, aesthetic values and way of life, he said.

Board of Supervisors Chairman Rodger Kendall said officials can’t anticipate how much legal fees could cost next year, but they have to be cautious with their spending. He said the township wants to build a community center next to the municipal building that would be used for rentals and monthly meetings, but plans remain up in the air until the zoning challenges are resolved.

“It’s money we weren’t planning on spending,” he said of the legal fees. “It would be nice to be able to build a community center for all of the people instead of spending the money to contend with six people that are unhappy with the way things are going.”

Vice Chairman Steve Duran expressed similar views and called the zoning challenges a “personal agenda.”

Supervisor Mark Brositz, who voted against the zoning amendment, said his position on the matter has been well-documented.

“I would be concerned that there can be significant legal fees due to the challenges, but I would have to revert to my vote against the ordinance, which speaks for itself.”

Three township solicitors attended the first zoning challenge hearing in October, but Kendall said the township was not billed for all three attorneys.

The board this week passed a balanced budget for 2015 with no major increases in expenditures. Sakalik said it helped that the township received a refund from Pennsylvania American Water after the township canceled a $776,000 contract for a water line extension project.

The company has since offered to extend public water to a handful of residents on Natures Way free of cost, as long as the township repairs the road. Duran is assisting with ongoing negotiations with the company.

Also during this week’s meeting, the board voted to create a tax to offset the $8,000 the township pays annually for fire hydrants. Sakalik said residents who live 1,000 feet of a fire hydrant will be taxed $20 each or less.