'Betrayed': Community regrouping after neighbors yield to data center developer

Gamaralalage said in May that his family had moved from New York to Gregg Township seeking a quieter life, and that the proposed data center — less than 200 yards from his home — threatened to "destroy everything." He had helped organize a Facebook group, worked to bring Bucknell University professors into the opposition's case, and invoked the story of David and Goliath when describing the fight ahead.

Matthew DeWire, spokesman for the group Concerned Citizens of Gregg Township, had criticized PNK Group's maintenance of the property and warned in May reporting that "families will watch their investments erode." His wife, Rebecca DeWire, a mechanical engineer, had given supervisors a detailed technical explanation of how low-frequency industrial noise travels through walls and shrubs and builds up inside homes at night.

At the July 20 hearing, an attorney speaking for the DeWires and three other households — Donald and Cheryl Palm, Kimberly Palm, and Jack and Sharon Fisher — said they had signed letters of "non-opposition." He drew a distinction between that status and support, telling supervisors that his clients "may have had opposition" at some point but, through "asking questions, attending meetings, doing research," no longer oppose the project. He said two additional households he represents — the Dewires and James and Taylor Kraus — signed letters stating active support for the development.

A second attorney confirmed non-opposition letters on behalf of Gamaralalage and Sean and Tina Snyder of First Street and submitted originals of both letters for the board's record.

Neither attorney disclosed the terms of any agreements reached with the households. Real estate attorneys representing landowners in negotiations with developers is standard practice in property transactions, and the hearing record does not establish that any payment changed hands.

Community reaction

The reversal was the dominant topic at a July 30 meeting of Gregg Township residents opposed to the project, held at Washington Presbyterian Church in Allenwood and headed by residents Kristen Snader, Summer Gelnett, and Jared Welch.

Attendees described feeling "betrayed" by neighbors they had fought alongside for months, with several speculating that the households had been compensated for dropping their opposition.

Snader was more direct. "In my opinion — and I want to say, in my opinion — these individuals were paid off for their silence and cooperation," Snader said, adding she believed the households were targeted because they had been among the most vocal opponents of the project. 

A document from PNK Group outlines a framework matching that speculation.

The document, labeled a confidential settlement proposal not admissible as evidence under state and federal rules, describes an offer PNK Group has made to "directly impacted" neighboring property owners: the company would purchase each participant's home at fair market value — set by an independent appraisal, with owners able to commission their own appraisal at their own cost if they dispute PNK's initial valuation — plus a premium equal to 75% of that value, paid in three installments tied to permitting milestones for the project's initial 60-megawatt phase and its full 240-megawatt build-out.

In exchange, the document states, a participating owner agrees to sign a "Letter of Non-Opposition" — required to state that the owner's original concerns were addressed to their satisfaction and that they no longer oppose the project — and to refrain from opposing the data center at meetings, hearings or online.

The document does not identify by name any specific property owner who received or signed the offer, and it is not known whether its terms match what any individual household ultimately agreed to. 

One resident recounted approaching Gamaralalage at the July 20 hearing before his name was read into the record and asking why turnout at recent meetings had dropped. According to that account, he acknowledged he was likely to sign on with the non-opposition group before his name was called minutes later.

Attorney in multiple roles

The group also raised renewed concerns about a conflict of interest involving J. Michael Wiley of McCormick Law Firm, Williamsport.

Wiley serves as Washington Township's solicitor and was separately identified as an attorney for PNK Group as early as late May.

Wiley is also solicitor for the Warrior Run Area School District, which serves students across  Northumberland, Union, and Montour counties, and was directed by the district's superintendent to send a letter to Montour County commissioners on the district's behalf objecting to Talen Energy's proposal to rezone more than 900 acres from agricultural to industrial use for a separate data center project, according to Standard-Journal reporting on a district board meeting. The district had already sent a similar letter to the Montour County Planning Commission.

It is not clear from available records whether or when Wiley's work for PNK Group began relative to his role representing the school district's opposition to a different data center project, or whether Wiley has disclosed the overlap to Washington Township, Warrior Run's board, or PNK Group. 

What's next

No new date has been formally announced for the rescheduled zoning hearing, originally set for June 1 and pushed to July 20 for testimony related to non-opposition and support letters. Residents said this week they've been told informally to expect a hearing on the substance of the ordinance sometime in late August or early September.

Opposition organizers plan to hold weekly strategy meetings at the church on Thursdays from 6 to 7 p.m. through the hearing date, with the next session set for Aug. 6. After DeWire's Concerned Citizens Facebook page was abandoned, a new one was created in its stead for residents still seeking to organize in opposition to the data center complex.

The group is preparing new testimony after members said much of their planned public comment was addressed informally, and without being entered into the record, at the July 20 meeting.

The zoning fight continues alongside a separate, related dispute over PPL Electric Utilities' proposed 230,000-volt transmission line, which farmers and residents have argued exists solely to serve PNK Group's development. That project remains under review by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, with PPL targeting a preferred route announcement and no final decision yet made public.