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JACKSON TWP. — More than 80 area residents visited the township fire hall Thursday night to learn more about a proposed stormwater fee challenge that will require donations to advance.
Organizers set a goal of $45,000 to start legal action, and said they do not expect it would take more than $144,000 to reach a court decision, a handout said.
Organizer Marian DeAngelis, of Lehman Township, said a suit can proceed if everyone donates a few dollars.
“We all have to pitch in. We all have to help,” DeAngelis said. “This is our shot.”
The legal action would be handled by Attorney Margaret M. Witherup, a Bloomsburg native with the Maryland law firm Gordon Feinblatt Inc. Witherup also is licensed in Pennsylvania and attended the gathering to introduce herself and answer some basic audience questions.
According to the handout:
All collected money will be placed in a legal fund pool, and donors won’t be direct clients of the firm.
“If you choose to contribute to this fund you are paying attorney fees which are not refundable, as if you hired your own attorney,” it said.
The goal will be elimination or a significant reduction of the stormwater fee imposed by the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority.
Up to seven organizers will serve as lawsuit representatives/clients to make decisions on behalf of the group and provide status updates on the progress of the legal action, including creation of a website.
Donations will be accepted for four weeks, with checks payable to Gordon Feinblatt at “No Rain Tax,” P.O. Box 82, Lehman PA, 18627. If the collection target is not met, a date will be set for donors to pick up their check if they did not include a self-addressed return envelope containing postage.
Checks will be forwarded to the law firm so it can cash them and initiate a suit if $45,000 is collected.
Witherup told the group the action would be filed against the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority and possibly others, but she declined to discuss her legal strategy, in part because it is still being developed.
The authority has said it imposed the fee to fund projects that bring participating municipalities into compliance with a federal pollution reduction mandate so they won’t face fines.
Municipalities in the regional program have municipal separate storm sewer system, or MS4, permits requiring them to meet specific percentage targets lowering sediment, nitrogen and phosphorus washed into the Susquehanna River and ultimately the Chesapeake Bay over the next five years.
Exploring legal theories
Stressing she cares about the environment, Witherup said stormwater fees must be reasonable and not place an undue burden on property owners. The legal challenge may include both state and federal claims, she said, promising to “explore every possible legal theory.”
“I do think you have some potential claims to challenge this fee,” she told the group, noting she also would negotiate with the sanitary authority.
Larksville resident Brian Dwyer, who is part of the initiative, told the citizens they “must come together” and urged them to spread word of the plan.
“Now the rubber meets the road, and we have to get down to business,” he said. “You can’t go to court for free.”
Harveys Lake Councilwoman Michell’e Boice, who has unsuccessfully opposed the borough’s participation in the regional plan, said she will contribute to the legal action and will alert the many borough residents she says are dissatisfied with the fee.
Numerous attendees aired complaints and frustrations over the fee and legislators’ lack of intervention on their behalf, with one citizen describing the fee as a “Ponzi scheme.”
Sanitary Authority Board Member Jeff McLaughlin attended the session, telling the group some misinformation was being presented and reiterating that local officials signed up to participate in the authority’s regional plan.