Let's pause and consider what the Municipalities Planning Code dictates the procedure shall be. First, the supervisors send an amendment to their planning commission. To do this, they must hold a public hearing, after discussion someone makes a motion which is seconded, and then a vote is taken. Then the BOS Secretary will send the amendment to the planning commission. Since the BOS Secretary is present when an amendment is authorized (voted on), they would know who authored it.
Now let's review what actually happened. First, the landowner's attorney sent an amendment directly to planning consultant Helfich, who forwarded what he received to the county planning commission(!). Helfrich went ahead and drafted it for possible consideration. This was discussed at the March 2014 CJER meeting, at which all the Eldred supervisors were present. Helfrich said he could move forward if it were authorized, but it was not. Helfrich sent the draft to Sharon Solt as Eldred Township Secretary, and she forwarded to the Eldred Township Planning Commission. At their April 2, 2014 meeting the supervisors had an opportunity to announce to the public the proposed amendment and vote to authorize it. As you can guess, that did not happen. The first critical step was completely ignored - a step that Sharon Solt as Secretary was responsible for seeing took place (as well as former Solicitor Kaspszyk).
Sharon Solt should have known full well how the water extraction amendment came into being, because at the March 27, 2014 CJER meeting when it was first discussed, she was present and Helfrich said at that meeting that a landowner's attorney had contacted him and he had gone ahead and drafted the amendment. The landowner was also present at this meeting. How could an amendment possibly come into being in a township, without the knowledge of the Board of Supervisors Secretary and a member of the Board? You just could not make this up. It stinks worse than a brothel two hours after the fishing fleet comes in - no offense to fishermen.
See the magic at the bottom of the response letter to the request. It basically says "I don't have a darned clue who authored an amendment in my town while I was supervisor, board secretary and regional planning CJER secretary, and I have no way of finding out."
Note: The citizen who received this response did not accept it as complete. Under pressure to deliver the information, Ms. Solt produced the damning Wimmer Letter.
Recall in the April 28, 2016 Pocono Record article that Carson Helfrich said he doesn't remember speaking with landowner attorney James Wimmer. But on March 21, 2014 Mr. Wimmer wrote in the letter containing the amendment to Helfrich that the two had spoken the day prior:
Helfrich, of Community Planning and Management, said he never felt Wimmer placed any pressure upon him to change the ordinance. "It was just a written request. I don't even remember speaking to the gentleman." he said, referring to Wimmer. (emphasis added)
Mr. Helfrich doesn't recall speaking with Mr. Wimmer in Apr 28, 2016 Pocono Record article
Yet Mr. Wimmer says the two spoke the day before said letter was received by Mr. Helfrich
At the March 27, 2014 CJER meeting these key actors were patting themselves on the back and stroking their collective egos. The verbal praise was so intimate that various forms of latex must have been used to prevent passage of a disease. Now they are advanced Alzheimer's patients. You would be better served using a rock for a brain if nonsense like this dribbled out of your mouth.
Questions
- Could it be that Ms. Solt didn't want to inform the requester that the landowner's attorney authored the amendment?
- If Mr. Helfrich didn't feel pressured to change the ordinance on receipt of Wimmer's letter, why did he go ahead and do it, as well as forward it to the Monroe County Planning Commission?
- Do these people really think the citizens are that stupid?
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