Two Eldred supervisors have reportedly met with council to discuss the possibility of pursuing legal action against one or more individuals involved in the illegal land use change that is the subject of this blog. Residents may press the supervisors on Wednesday to poop or get off the pot; options may include pursuing: 1) criminal charges, 2) monetary compensation for the needless legal bills that Eldred Township incurred, 3) disciplinary sanctions from one or more agencies, 4) direct correspondence and/or confrontation with consultants and officials who were involved.
Let's review the cast of characters in this play, presented in no particular order.
As you look over the list below, some images may be helpful:
Howard Beers - Ross Township Planning Commission chairman and CJER representative during the relevant period. Mr. Beers' Planning Commission inexplicably cancelled its very important March 2014 meeting at which they were to review the pending comprehensive ordinance update - as a result adoption of the ordinances across all townships scheduled for March 27 was delayed until May 1, 2014, giving an opportunity to "squeeze in" last minute changes, notably the ill-conceived water extraction amendment. Mr. Beers is believed to be acquainted with landowner Ricky Gower.
Chuck Gould - Chestnuthill Supervisor and CJER Chairman during relevant period. Was indignant at March 2014 CJER meeting when Eldred resident Vernon Barlieb suggested that Eldred residents would be rudely surprised when they discovered what was contained in the pending ordinance. Was also indignant at September 2015 CJERP meeting when several Eldred residents including Mr. Barlieb appeared to ask questions. Told these residents they had to go back to their township and ask questions there. One has to wonder if the Chairman has any clue to this day that wise old owl Mr. Barlieb saw the fault in CJER's actions, warned him on March 27, 2014, and that he dismissed Mr. Barlieb's concerns as misplaced and not important. It's right in the transcript. Mr. Gould owes Mr. Barlieb and all of Eldred Township an apology. He represents everything that is wrong with CJERP.
Jack Rader - State Representative, CJER Vice Chairman from Jackson Township during relevant period. Appears to possibly be in the tank for Nestle, which is known to have strong lobbyists in Harrisburg. Abruptly resigned from CJERP two weeks after it was announced Nestle was in town in spring 2015, but is now back on CJERP. Was visibly annoyed at the June 8, 2016 Eldred BOS meeting when the crowd cheered at the announcement that Nestle was withdrawing its application. Told Eldred residents on multiple occasions that the illegal land use change was a "local problem," which is a crock of shit - CJER (now CJERP) is responsible for what happened on its watch, while he was vice chairman.
Matt Neeb - Full time planner/zoner employed by Chestnuthill Township, sit on CJERP today as well as on CJER during relevant period. Incredibly, in an interview in December 2015 Mr. Neeb in one breath stated that consistency across townships was a very high priority of the ordinance updates in 2014, and in the very next breath stated that he saw no contradiction in Eldred's definition of water extraction being changed from that in the other CJER townships just prior to adoption. What the hell is his definition of consistency? You couldn't find a Depends large enough to cover CJERP's ass.
Sharon Solt - Chairman of Eldred Supervisors, Eldred BOS Secretary, Eldred Treasurer, Eldred CJER representative and CJER Secretary, Monroe County Planning Commission member during relevant period. This says it all - you put someone in all these positions, and they better be competent and have the highest ethics. Ms. Solt has neither of these qualities. She cheered via email when a resident complained about a road illegally placed across her property by Ms. Solt's fellow supervisor to her BFF's property, and when she believed the wool had been pulled over her fellow supervisor Clausen's eyes. When an employee warned the Eldred Planners were not being given proper notice of the water extraction amendment, she reportedly said "send it that way." Her minutes, in two words, sucked ass. Minutes are to reflect what happened in a meeting, not just the parts the secretary wants people to see. In March 2016, she asked when the Eldred BOS held a vote that she had seconded the motion of only two months earlier. How does she remember where she is going after she gets in a car - "Siri, where am I going?"? Resigned in disgrace as Eldred Township BOS member in spring of 2016.
Gretchen Gannon Pettit - Eldred supervisor and girlfriend of landowner Ricky Gower during the relevent period, named a road across a neighbor's property to give additional access so Gower could subdivide his property and retain access to his son's house. Told the audience at the March 27, 2014 CJER meeting that "nothing is changing in our zoning - nothing." Evidently her definition of "nothing" is not the same as what the rest of us believe it to be. Told a resident who accused her of sleeping with Gower at the December 2015 Eldred BOS that she didn't get on the board just to do favors for her BFF. This observer was not convinced.
David Mitchell - Pennsylvania Game Commission employee who reportedly has been involved in land swaps that Nestle Waters has engaged in, such as the 80+ acre Scott property in Ross Township, and land adjacent to Nestle's operations along Route 309. Nestle got the Game Commission to greatly restrict what it does on its land off 309 in exchange for the Game Commission obtaining the Scott property 1 mile down the road from Mr. Mitchell, who already enjoys 1000+ acres of state land adjacent to his property. Seen outside after several Eldred BOS meetings commiserating with landowner Gower, Ilene Eckhart and Nestle water john Eric Andreus. The Game Commission just agreed to supervise lands of Allen Township in exchange for archery and bow hunting to be allowed on municipal land. Failed to receive a second when nominated by Sharon Solt for the Planning Commission at the January 2016 Eldred reorganization meeting. Reported to be SO of Ilene Eckhart.
Ileen Eckhart - Fomer Eldred BOS member. Manager of Allen Township, where Nestle is rumored to be exploring and/or has operations. Seen outside after several Eldred BOS meetings commiserating with landowner Gower, David Mitchell and Nestle water john Eric Andreus. Believed to post under Little Aqua Velva identity in snarky comments that shamelessly supported Nestle on the internet. Failed to receive a second on nominations by Sharon Solt for positions of Vacancy Board and Alternate Zoning Hearing Board member at the January 2016 Eldred reorganization meeting. Reported to be SO of David Mitchell.
Darcy Gannon - Mother of Gretchen Gannon Pettit Gannon and Eldred Planning Commission Recording Secretary during the relevant period. Prearranged to send the draft March 2014 Planning Commission minutes to landowner Gower's attorney, who doctored them to suit his needs and returned them. The approved minutes were verbatim as modified by the attorney. Lined up for Tax Collector to replace retiring Helen Mackes in late 2015, but this rat was unable to jump onto dry land after the malfeasance of 2014 was exposed.
Carson Helfrich - incomparably incompetent land planner. Recommended it was alright to make the definitions of a use different in one township compared with the others, with no regard for violating the principal of consistency. Failed to warn anyone that a more intense and incompatible use would be added to the Commercial district, which is intended for commercial uses. Drafted the water extraction amendment based on direct communication from the landowner's attorney - with no authorization from the Eldred Twp BOS. This man was actually paid for the "services" he provided with Eldred taxpayer money.
Christine Meinhart Fritz - Monroe County Planning Commission Senior Planner during the relevant period. Has since been promoted consistent with Peter Principle to MCPC Director. Rumored to be good friend of Sharon Solt. At March 27, 2014 CJER meeting, made a ridiculous statement that the Eldred commercial zoned site of Gower's property was targeted for future commercial use, so water extraction would be a great fit. Water extraction is an industrial use, not commercial. When an Eldred resident appeared at the MCPC office in July 2014 to ask questions of Ms. Meinhart Fritz about the water extraction amendment, he was made to wait for 45 minutes because she was with her daughter. When he asked how much longer it would be, he was told she was now with her parents, and was unavailable. He left his phone number. She never called - but Ms. Solt called with some information the resident had requested. A coincidence? Not. No longer a representative to CJERP.
James "Jimmy" Wimmer - landowner's attorney. Misrepresented the current ordinance to Eldred Planners. Improperly submitted an ordinance amendment directly to regional planner Carson Helfrich, circumventing both the Eldred BOS and Planning Commission.. Secretively altered the March 2014 Eldred Planning Commission minutes and sent them to Darcy Gannon through Gretchen Gannon Pettit's email address, and invited Ms. Gannon to lunch in the same communication.
James "Jimmy" Fareri - one of the good old boys - CJER Solicitor from the relevant period through today. "Hey, Jim-eyy!" is the greeting he gets from the wheels of CJERP when he appears at a meeting - on the taxpayer's dime. Big whoop-dee-woo. Partner at Newman Williams, somehow believed to be the premier law firm in Monroe County. Mr. Fareri had sole responsibility as Special Solicitor for reviewing amendments and advertising them during the relevant period, according to Eldred BOS Solicitor Kaspszyk. There is no evidence that Mr. Fareri reviewed the water extraction amendment or the advertisement for it that was placed in the Pocono Record. Advised a gag order on CJERP on January 12, 2016, a mere week after his partner Marc Wolfe agreed on January 4 to represent landowner Gower in an adversarial position to Eldred Township, a CJERP member. You just could not make this shit up. Newman Williams was responsible for publishing advertisements for the amendments in March and May 2014 - somehow the May meeting advertisement was altered after approval and after being submitted to the Pocono Record. Mr. Fareri proclaimed at the May 1, 2014 CJER meeting that it was properly advertised. Mr. Fareri is not believed to have reported to CJERP the results of the investigation he should have launched to determine who was responsible for changing only the Eldred water extraction amendment to conceal its effect. Newman Williams agreed to represent landowner Gower in a stunning apparent conflict of interest that would only be attempted in Monroe County.
Dan Lyons - Eldred Planning Commission Solicitor who is reported to have essentially run the meetings. Kicked to the curb immediately following privately arranging (unannounced to the Planning Commission) for Nestle to make a 3 hour presentation at the January 2016 Eldred Planning Commission meeting. Planning Commission members found out Nestle was appearing when they showed up at the meeting.
Ellerslie "Bub" Helm - Typical lower tier seat warmer zoning officer found in 2nd class townships who aren't concerned about ensuring that the ordinance is enforced. Initially wrote a few sentence, unsigned and undated review letter after he looked over the Nestle Waters 1000-page application, in which he found no deficiencies. If Bub had caught the fact a road was blocked on the Gower property (he reportedly made a site visit), or that Nestle's above ground storage tanks are not permitted in Wellhead Protection Zone 2, or that the applicant needed a variance due to multiple uses being co-located on the Site Plan, Nestle could have been dispatched in one or two Zoning Hearing Board hearings. Nestle did not the hardships needed for variances. Bub was abruptly shown the "out" door shortly after whiffing the Nestle Site Plan review.
Michael Kaspszyk - Eldred BOS Solicitor during the relevant period, when the ordinance changes were made that should not have been. Used the excuse that the CJERP solicitor was to review all ordinance changes. This bad penny has returned like a boomerang already, having been appointed Vacancy Board Chairman in June 2016 to replace Gary Hoffman, who had been appointed supervisor. The Vacancy Board Chairman steps in to break a tie when a sitting supervisor is unavailable or disqualified from voting.
Eric Andreus - Nestle representative who incredibly claimed in the January 2016 Planning Commission meeting that Nestle "didn't notice" that their use was not allowed by the ordinance in effect in 2012, when they were already doing testing on the Gower property. Changed his story to "we saw it, but we thought we could make an excuse to get around it" by the following Planning Commission meeting. Was big on pointing out that Nestle's extraction would be "sustainable," while simultaneously denying Nestle's operations had ever affected anyone's well. Mr. Andreus was widely disparaged and hated by Eldred residents.
Will the Eldred Township BOS pursue justice for its residents and possibly obtain some restitution, in the final chapter of this debacle? Or will they attempt to close the book prematurely and hastily write a one paragraph afterword? Only time will tell. Make no mistake, the ability to achieve full justice in this case has potentially significant legal costs. However, there are less expensive steps that could be taken but have not yet been, that could result in appeasing many Eldred residents who are angry over what their community was put through at the hands of so-called professionals, inept and/or corrupt officials, and dingbats.
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