MAHANOY CITY - Most of the Mahanoy Township supervisors meeting Thursday involved complaints about ongoing problems along Tower Road near the Village of Park Place.
Township residents complained about a local hunting club allegedly using a gate to restrict access to the road and allegedly harassing and threatening people who walk or ride in the vicinity.
The Rack and Spurs Hunting Club has leased land from Girard Estate north of Park Place along Tower Road, which is Township Route 818. The road, which leads into Delano Township, is not maintained by the township.
Prior to public comments on the matter, township solicitor Eric Lieberman gave a report on the matter.
"I was asked by the supervisors to do some research to find out what we could find out about the road at our end," Lieberman said. "Simultaneously, the engineers had contacted PennDOT and requested certain information."
Lieberman said he has not heard from PennDOT but his investigation revealed some facts, including that the township does receive state liquid fuels funds for 0.43 miles of the road.
"It's pretty fair to say that that portion of the road is a municipal road, but most of it is not macadamed, not maintained," he said. "So where does that leave us? From the supervisors' standpoint, they would like to hear from PennDOT to be sure that it is a public road. Based on what we know so far, we believe it is, but there's always a possibility that (there was) some motion or petition to the courthouse at some time to vacate the road."
Lieberman has been at the Schuylkill County Courthouse to review the road docket and noted that the road has been in existence since the early 1900s.
"I think by next month we should have a final answer," Lieberman said.
He added that township officials have contacted Girard Estate to inform it about the complaints, and Lieberman advised anyone who had been harassed or threatened to file a complaint with the police department so the incidents can be documented.
Resident Theodore Romanick asked if the gate has been opened and Lieberman said it had not been.
"A request has been made that they (the hunting club) do open the gate, so we hope to have them open within 30 days," Lieberman said.
"Why does it have to take that long?" Romanick said. "If this situation isn't resolved right now, don't you think that that gate should be opened immediately until it is resolved?"
"Well, as I said, we're not 100 percent positive, so we don't want to do anything. We're still looking into it," Lieberman said.
"But you're not 100 percent sure it's not, so why does that gate have to be closed right now?" Romanick said.
"It has been requested to be taken down," Lieberman said. "We're in the process."
"With hunting season coming, there are going to be a lot of people moaning," Romanick said. "It should be removed now, not 30 days from now."
"I was threatened up there several times trying to go through their land," said resident Edward Bumbulsky, who later clarified it was on the road, not the leased land. "I was threatened several times and I'm not one to go to the police, but it's not right. That is supposed to be an open road and I'm being threatened by this club. I'm not going to be threatened again or something will happen."
Supervisor Chairwoman Sharon R. Chiao repeated what she said at the September meeting, explaining that the hunting club and the owners of the cell towers have complained about trespassing in their respective areas, finding illegal dumping and evidence of drug activity. They requested closing the area with gates. Chiao said the gates were not placed by the township but a stipulation was made by the township that access to those areas for emergency vehicles would be required.
Resident Faith Ward questioned Chiao and Supervisor James P. Stevens on why the road ownership wasn't determined before permission was given.
"We didn't go through any of this when this hunting club asked to block the road," Ward said. "Now, taxpayer dollars are being spent to find out if it is or isn't our road and you're allowing it to be blocked. Nobody checked this out before permission was given."
"That probably would have been the better thing to do but I think Sharon is saying that they were trying to do the right thing," Lieberman said. "Maybe it wasn't the right way to go about it but they were trying to do the right thing in retrospect."
"But who is going to foot the bill for all this?" Ward said. "Why should we?"
Lieberman replied that the township would pay the costs, although he said his searches have been kept to a minimum of time.
Township police Officer Brandon Alexander said additional complaints about harassment have been filed with the department.