Aug 28, 2018 3 min read

Peters Township Council has approved leasing 60-plus acres of municipally owned property to a natural gas company.

Under the agreement, Range Resources – Appalachia LLC will be able to extend laterals from one its drilling pads in North Strabane Township to access three parcels in and around Peters Lake Park.

“This is a nonsurface lease,” solicitor John Smith explained. “They can’t come into Peters Township in any way than under the township.”

Council’s vote at its Monday night meeting was 5-1-1, with Robert Lewis dissenting and Gary Stiegel Jr. abstaining. Lewis also voted against a similarly structured lease with EQT Corp. in May 2017.

At that time, council member Frank Kosir Jr. expressed opposition to the concept of extracting natural gas from township property, but he has voted in favor of both leases.

“This is going to happen regardless of whether or not we take advantage of this opportunity,” he said at the latest meeting. “I think we would be bad stewards of township resources if we don’t take this money, because – let’s be honest – the budget’s going to get tighter every year, and we’re going to get all the negative fallout that’s going to occur as a result of this well, regardless of whether or not we take the money.”

Although township manager Paul Lauer said no estimates are available at this point regarding how much the municipality will receive through royalties, the calculations expressed by some council members put the amount in roughly the $300,000 range.

The royalty structure in the lease contract, as presented to council, calls for the township to receive “18 percent of the amount realized by the lessee” for the sale and delivery of gas and other hydrocarbons produced with gas.

In somewhat of a related matter, council also approved testing Peters Lake Park water to establish a baseline for its contents for future reference.

“That’s not necessarily tied to this lease,” Smith said, citing concerns for “the big picture, because of all the activity around us.”

He and Lauer did talk with Range representatives about the possibility of the company paying for testing. But the applicable drilling pad is far enough away from the lake for Range to decline, following industry standards.

The process, though, is not an expensive one, Lauer said.

In other business:

• Council voted to establish a four-way stop at Springdale Road and Sienna Trail. Three stop signs now are at the intersection, with traffic approaching uphill from the south having the right of way.

Along with addressing problems with visibility, Lauer cited the recent paving of Sienna Trail as a motivating reason.

“I think it makes traveling on that road a bit easier and perhaps faster, and I think this stop sign probably is warranted at this point,” he said.

• Council authorized the purchase of two new police vehicles for delivery during the first quarter of 2019, in advance of Ford Motor Co.’s Sept. 14 deadline to accept orders for next year. Without the action, the department would have had to wait until 2020.

The two department vehicles to be replaced each have in excess of 62,000 miles, according to a memorandum to Lauer from police Chief Douglas Grimes, which states: “Failure to replace these control vehicles will likely result in higher-than-normal maintenance costs to ensure safe and serviceable operation.”