Law Firm that Represents Regional Planning Agency CJER/CJERP Files Petition of Land Owner to Intervene in Appeal

On January 4, the law firm of Newman, Williams, Mishkin, Corveleyn, Wolfe & Fareri filed a petition on behalf of land owner Ricky Gower and Gower Estates LLC to intervene in the land use appeal of Citizens v. Eldred Township.  This is the parcel Nestle/Deer Park plans to extract water from, under a lease from Gower.

Two of the partners in the law firm are Marc Wolfe and James Fareri.  Of note is that Wolfe is the attorney who signed the petition paperwork.  Fareri is the solicitor for CJERP, and was the solicitor for its predecessor CJER at the time the challenged water extraction amendment was passed.  Here is the advertisement for the May 1, 2014 hearing at which the amendment vote took place:

This may represent a conflict of interest for the law firm.  Fareri is believed to have been under contract with Eldred Township and/or its Board of Supervisors at the time of the disputed action, and both are defendants in the appeal.

Addendum 1/25 1PM Since the new Eldred Township Board of Supervisors has moved towards overturning the 2014 water extraction amendment, it appears that Mr. Wolfe and Mr. Fareri might be representing parties with conflicting interests.  This is something that may merit examination, to avoid any possible conflict of interest - something law firms usually check carefully prior to representing a prospective client.