Solicitor authorized to attend MarkWest case
CECIL – Cecil Township supervisors on Monday authorized solicitor John Smith to attend Dec. 11 oral arguments before Commonwealth Court on the lawsuit MarkWest Liberty Midstream & Resources filed against the township zoning hearing board.
The dispute dates to March 2011, when Cecil’s board turned down a request by MarkWest to build a natural-gas compressor station on Route 980 near Coleman Road. The board said it was not appropriate for an area zoned for light industrial use and was not essential. MarkWest countered by filing suit in Washington County Court, asking to let it build the compressor station at that site. A Washington County Court judge upheld the zoning hearing board’s decision in that case.
After the passage of Act 13, the state law governing oil and gas drilling, in 2012, MarkWest also appealed to Commonwealth Court, claiming that the facility would be allowed under the new law.
However, the zoning provisions of Act 13 were found to be unconstitutional by Commonwealth Court and no decision on Act 13 has been rendered by the state Supreme Court. Smith will accompany the zoning hearing board’s solicitor and is waiving his fee in order to attend.
Supervisors voted 4-1 in favor of Smith attending. Supervisor Elizabeth Cowden was opposed.
Also, Michele Bruce of Fix Ur Cat asked supervisors to consider using her company to help address the stray cat problem in the township, especially in Muse. Last month, supervisors rejected a proposal to trap and kill cats in Muse.
Fix Ur Cat is a volunteer group that coordinates neutering and spaying stray cats through Animal Friends of Washington County, which provides a fully staffed mobile resource clinic for the county from April through November. During the winter months, Fix Ur Cat provides a drive-up service to the Animal Friends in-house clinic in Sewickley.
Fix Ur Cat has held clinics at Cecil Township volunteer fire companies No. 2 and No. 3.
Bruce said last year Fix Ur Cat worked with Muse residents to neuter and spray more than 40 cats. According to the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society, a single spay surgery can prevent 55 births.