Supervisors May Vote on Land Use Plan
By Anne Danahy, The Centre Daily Times, State College, Pa.
Nov. 8–Rush Township supervisors may vote tonight on a comprehensive land use plan that includes provisions for a landfill and industrial park, despite Tuesday’s election in which a supervisor who supports the landfill project was ousted by an anti-landfill challenger.
Two of the three current supervisors support Resource Recovery LLC’s proposal to build a municipal waste landfill and industrial park in the township. One of them, Jack Shannon, lost his bid for re-election to Democrat Mike Savage, who opposes the landfill.
According to the township secretary, supervisors will likely take up the comprehensive plan at today’s 7 p.m. meeting.
Supervisors have been considering adopting an updated comprehensive plan that could help the landfill — a project that could bring millions in tipping fees to the township — move forward in the approval process.
Resource Recovery is seeking to build an Interstate 80 interchange to provide access to the landfill. Such an interchange would need to have secondary, public access, but Resource Recovery’s initial proposal to use Gorton Road in neighboring Snow Shoe Township for that purpose met with strong opposition.
The proposed comprehensive plan includes a second option proposed by Resource Recovery — a potential road that would link the proposed I-80 interchange to state Route 504 by traveling through Black Moshannon State Park.
While company and township officials have said landfill trucks would not use the road, residents of the area spoke against it at a public hearing in October.
Shannon declined to comment on Tuesday’s election, except to say he was surprised by the results.
He said the board will continue to run the local government for the remaining two months he’ll be in office.
Savage said he hopes the board does not take action on the comprehensive plan at its meeting tonight.
“I would have preferred that it not be taken up until I’m on the board and could have a vote on it,” Savage said.
He said he will do everything he can to stop the Route 504 connector and the landfill.
Supervisor Steven Knowles, who opposes the landfill, said he was elected to represent the township residents, and that hasn’t changed. He said the way Shannon and Supervisor Pat Couturiaux handled the decision to support the landfill was probably a big part of why Shannon lost the election.
Shannon and Couturiaux were criticized by some for not listening to residents and making sure they knew ahead of time about the May 2004 meeting when supervisors voted to approve an agreement with Resource Recovery.
Couturiaux could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Anne Danahy can be reached at 231-4648.
—–
To see more of the Centre Daily Times, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.centredaily.com.
Copyright (c) 2007, The Centre Daily Times, State College, Pa.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.