Cornwall Borough Council approves preliminary Boyd Street warehouse plan

This article was funded by LebTown donors as part of our Civic Impact Reporting Project.

In a narrow vote, Cornwall Borough Council approved the preliminary plan for a 400,060-square-foot warehouse proposed for Boyd Street at Monday night’s borough council meeting.

Council members Bruce Harris, Bruce Conrad, and Thomas Burton voted to approve, with Julie Bowman and Thomas Lux voting against. Council member Eric Tobias was absent from the meeting and John Karinch abstained.

“First, you gotta follow the law folks,” said Conrad, noting that Cornwall Properties CEO John Byler is still interested in building a lakefront resort on the site and the borough is pursuing a Miners Village bypass. “Facts are stubborn things. Second, [Byler] has stressed over and over he doesn’t want to build this warehouse so this is our opportunity to get another thing built up there.” 

“I made my mind up two and a half hours ago,” said Lux after voting no on the plan. “I ran (for Council) on the fact that I didn’t want any more development in Cornwall and I’m sticking to it.” 

Bowman said that she would have approved the plan if Byler was willing to accept conditions requiring Cornwall Properties to take into account a borough-conducted traffic study and soil/cave-in zone research once they become available. Council has taken steps toward soliciting an independent traffic study spanning the borough.

Residents voice opposition

Residents overflowed the room, and the over four-hour meeting was dominated by public comments against the warehouse plan. 

“To approve this this evening would be a slap in the face,” said resident Greg Olsen, which was met with a round of applause from the audience. He also stated how he felt this was a “dangerous proposal” and urged council to “do the right thing” in voting no. 

Resident Carolyn Olsen expressed concern for the safety of her children and the other children who walk across Boyd Street to get to the school bus stop.

“Expecting to be walking on Boyd Street with the thoughts of 86 trips of tractor trailers coming off of 322 to go down to Miners Village is horrific,” said Olsen.

Resident Mike Wells, who moved to Cornwall with his wife just two weeks ago, said that if they would have known about the potential for development before purchasing their home, they would have not done it. 

“We left an area that was beautiful and became overdeveloped, that the roads were so busy I didn’t want to be home,” said Wells. “We came here because of the beauty of the area and if I’d of known this, if we would have not been so far into the process of purchasing the house I would have not followed through I can guarantee that.”

Resident Jane Clark read a lengthy statement she had prepared in concern to soil testing done on the sites for proposed development by Cornwall Properties. Clark has filed a complaint with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection about this matter. 

Borough Manager Cody Rhoads read eight public comments that had been submitted via email, which all urged council to vote no on the warehouse plan. Council directed Rhoads to include these comments in the meeting minutes.

Council also heard that there were 164 signatures in a change.org petition requesting that the plan be denied, approved with certain conditions, or granted another extension.

Professional recommendations

With a July 14 deadline for the borough to act, council needed to approve or reject the plan Monday. If council did not act on the plan, solicitor Josele Cleary said, it would be approved by default.

Cleary described the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, which governs borough and township land use powers, as “a very landowner-oriented statute,” noting that if a use is allowed in a zoning district, a municipality is required to allow it if it meets ordinance requirements. She added that if council rejected the plan and the developer appealed, the courts would make decisions based on information available now, and would not consider new studies or discoveries.

Both Cleary and alternate borough engineer Josh Weaber recommended approval of the warehouse plan. During the planning commission meeting July 6, Weaber was asked whether he felt there were grounds for the borough to reject the plan, and Weaber responded, “My honest opinion is no.”

Though multiple council members asked Cornwall Properties for a time extension, Byler declined. He said he continues to want to develop a lake resort community at the site, and is willing to negotiate for it with the borough, but said he has been waiting for action for several years. Cornwall Properties representative Mike Swank, when asked for an extension, asked what specific requirements the plan did not meet.

With preliminary approval granted Monday, Cornwall Properties will begin work on a final version of the plan. This involves state approvals like an National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit.

The preliminary approval locks in the plan (unless the developer rescinds it) and the use with the borough, but the developer will still need to come before council before a final plan is approved. Cornwall Properties representative Mike Swank said last week that the developer could, at earliest, break ground on the project in September or November of this year.

Conflict of interest allegations

Mixed in amongst public comments about the warehouse plan were comments concerning the transparency among the borough council and residents. 

According to Karinch, Bowman sent an email listing his son’s employment by Steckbeck Engineering (SESI) as a potential conflict of interest. She asked him to resign from the planning commission, which he declined to do.

He read a statement listing every vote he took on Cornwall Properties matters in the last several years and said he was never the tie-breaker, concluding, “council did not need my vote, one single time, for anything.”

“I asked to be on planning and zoning because Mr. Fratini used to be on P&Z and council and he brought a wealth of knowledge to the following Monday night meetings because most council members do not attend planning and zoning meetings,” said Karinch. Conrad and Karinch sit on both council and P&Z. 

Karinch also stated that he voluntarily submitted his situation to the Pennsylvania State Ethics Commission for review of potential conflict of interest, and will abstain from voting on matters that could have potential conflict of interest until he hears back from the commission. This includes the warehouse plan voted on Monday.

“Speaking of recusing, Julie, maybe you ought to recuse yourself since its your life mission to make Mr. Byler’s life miserable from here on out,” said Karinch. 

Bowman asked Byler if he felt this way, after which he expressed his frustration stating that he felt solutions Bowman has attempted to present to him have been very “one-sided.”

Bowman also questioned the public perception of the connection of both the borough’s engineer Jeff Steckbeck and alternate engineer Josh Weaber (who handles SESI-connected plans) to SESI. Steckbeck was SESI’s founder, though he is now working as an independent contractor, and Weaber worked for SESI earlier in his career.

Cleary said that, according to state guidelines, these connections, as well as Karinch’s son’s employment by SESI, are likely not considered conflicts of interest.

Conrad said he felt potential and perceived conflicts of interest should be investigated, but vehemently opposed allegations members of council have or would take bribes, a claim he said is circulating on social media.

Resident and former council member Ron Ricard suggested that the borough create a resident committee to create an in-house conflict of interest policy to ensure perceived conflicts of interest are disclosed to the public, which Conrad said was a good idea. Harris asked Conrad to return next month with a more detailed recommendation.

In other business, the council: 

• Approved to hire an independent engineering firm to study the possible construction of miners village bypass. Council will next review for engineering firms.
• Authorized spending up to $5,000 for a consultant for the regional firm commission to provide additional oversight and guidance. 
• Authorized the hiring of a public works employee at a rate of $25/hour
• Authorized Dave Bradley as an additional check signed for the water and sewer accounts.
• Tabled action on numerous items initially slated for Monday’s meeting due to the length of discussion on the warehouse.

The Cornwall Borough Councils next meeting is scheduled for Monday, August 10 at 6:30 p.m. at 44 Rexmont Road, Lebanon, PA. Meetings are open to the public.