DUBOIS – DuBois City Council met Monday night before a full public audience, mostly out of concern for the Marcellus Shale Gas Leases, which was discussed at the Jan. 21 work session. A common thread between concerned citizens was how their drinking water would be affected in the event of an accident and the amount of money the land is being leased for.
George Kutsell, from Trout Unlimited-Allegheny Mountain Chapter, posed questions to council regarding the leasing of the land for $500 per acre. He wanted to know why the City of DuBois was leasing their land for $500 per acre when neighboring land was being leased by the state for $5,500 per acre. He also questioned council on why they spent so much money protecting the reservoir in the past only to endanger it with potential contamination from drilling accidents.
Ted Lyons asked council if the wording of the lease allowed for subleasing of the property. It was stated that the company does have that ability.
According to attorney Paula Cherry, “I haven’t seen a lease that does not have that terminology.” Cherry stated that the lease is in the process of being reviewed at the time. She said she has yet to do the title search and once that is complete suggestions will be made for change.
City Manager John “Herm” Suplizio said that a lease had not yet been signed and the paperwork was with the city solicitor for review. He addressed the low bid on the land as only receiving two bids, one for $100 an acre and another for $500 an acre. Randy Schmidt said that it came down to the market of the land at the time. Kutsell felt that it should be put back out to bid and that the city should not be giving away their land.
Diane Bernardo, council member, made the recommendation that they hold another information session in a larger venue so residents could come out and hear the subject matter experts and to field questions.
Mayor Gary Gilbert told the audience that the city purchased 1,200 acres of land for an alternate water source.