East Union solar project grinds to halt, again

SHEPPTON – A month after East Union Township supervisors voted to approve a land development plan, development agreement, and stormwater operation and maintenance agreement for a planned solar farm, the project has hit another stumbling block.

Two representatives of New Leaf Energy, LLC, who have been planning a solar farm on the Austra property on Phinneyville Road, were on hand at Monday’s meeting.

During the meeting’s second public portion, Shawn Brandt, of New Leaf Energy, requested signatures for the plans.

Donald Karpowich, township solicitor, instead began to cross-examine Brandt and another company representative on the recent sale of Phinneyville Solar 1, LLC from New Leaf Energy to Coast Energy.

New Leaf had been the developer until recently. Coast Energy will construct the project, Brandt said. The project has been wading through red tape for several months, including a last-minute setback when supervisors sent the matter back to zoning over a disputed property line.

According to meeting minutes, a similar discussion was already had at last month’s meeting prior to the vote to approve the solar farm plans.

A condition placed on the project last month was the posting of an approved dismantling bond.

Karpowich asked who the membership of Phinneyville Solar 1 LLC was.

When the two New Leaf Energy representatives hesitated, Karpowich said “these aren’t hard questions, I’m asking you who you are, so if you can’t tell me who you are, I get suspicious.”

“You have New Leaf Energy on your jacket,” Karpowich said. “Were they the members of Phinneyville Solar 1 LLC?” Brandt answered yes.

Coast Energy now owns the LLC. Karpowich asked Brandt if that was the case. Minutes from the Feb. 3 township meeting mention the sale to Coast Energy as well. Karpowich was in attendance.

A miscommunication led to an extended line of questioning regarding the status of the solar farm’s lease.

“You’re going to be out-of-town, this project is going to be here for a long time, we want to make sure the responsible parties are around so that what they said they’re going to do, they do,” Karpowich said.

The agreements were already signed by representatives by Coast Energy, and Karpowich sought documentation that their representative had authority to sign it.

Karpowich also raised concern that the address on the agreement was the project address and not an office address.

“I really wish you would’ve brought this up during the initial review,” Brandt said, asking Karpowich to contact New Leaf’s attorney.

Supervisors Chairman Kyle Mummey said the supervisors just found out about the sale to Coast Energy last meeting.

“We thought it was just you guys and I have your contact information everywhere. On the application, on your jacket, on your cards, and now you submit these agreements and say ‘Hey, Shai [a representative for Coast Energy] bought the company, and no prove Shai bought the company,” Karpowich said. “I have no proof Shai bought it, I have no proof Shai had authority to sign these documents, and I don’t have any proof of where the hell Shai is.”

“Here, take your documents and your envelope, get them right and bring them back to us when you have them right,” Karpowich said.

“Can you please send your comments to [our solicitor],” Brandt asked.

Karpowich interrupted, saying “I just gave you them.”

“Wow, this is what happens in this township,” Stefan Gerneth, husband of Amy Austra-Gerneth, the property owner, said in the audience. Gerneth is also running for township supervisor against Mummey.

“Yeah, what happens in the township,” Karpowich quipped. Gerneth’s response was drowned out by Mummey’s gavel before Karpowich continued. “I have the floor. You’re the landowner. You sat here last meeting — your wife sat here last meeting and said ‘We don’t want to be responsible for anything, we don’t want to sign an agreement.’ These guys are leaving town and we don’t have any information on the new buyer, nothing.”

“I don’t want you to say anything,” Karpowich said in response to Gerneth asking if he could.

Gerneth was permitted to speak shortly after, clarifying that his wife is the landowner. Austra-Gerneth was not present at the meeting.

“We’ve been going back and forth with you since September of last year,” Gerneth said, interrupted by Karpowich.

“No, you haven’t come to me at all. The landowner was never involved in negotiations. None from you or Amy,” Karpowich said. “And then we came here last meeting with a document that your lawyer drafted and the landowner didn’t agree to them. And then we learned there was going to be a new operator. So I said to you I want the new operator’s information and I want them included on that. There’s not even an address. I don’t know who Shai is.”

Karpowich did then provide a list of things he needed for New Leaf’s representatives.

“These are the problems that we have and their fundamental issues that we shouldn’t be arguing with,” Karpowich said. “So if you think I’m getting a short temper over it, yes I am. All I’m asking you for is to tell me who the hell owns it and how to contact them if there’s a problem. And you have a landowner, whether its him or his wife, the wife saying ‘I don’t want to be responsible for anything, I don’t even want to sign agreements.'”

Brandt said that he sent an email to the township engineer several weeks ago introducing Coast Energy.

The New Leaf representatives added that Karpowich had been sent the agreement a week ago and he had never acknowledged receipt or provided comments.

“You had time to review these,” Brandt said. Karpowich contended that he should’ve had two weeks to review them.

Karpowich then accused the company of misrepresentation because of the sale.

Mummey and Vice-Chair Wendy Danchision again echoed claims and concerns that Austra-Gerneth was unwilling to sign agreements.

“No one should ever sign a contract without reading it with their attorney, everybody here agrees to that,” Gerneth said, adding that Austra-Gerneth did sign the agreements. “You don’t just blindly sign contracts. When we came here to the last township meeting is when we received them for the first time.”

“That’s not our problem,” Danchision said. “That’s not the township’s problem.”

The 33-acre solar farm would produce five megawatts of power and according to plans submitted to the Schuylkill County Planning Commission, would be located on both sides of Phineyville Road.

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