Published: June 08, 2007 11:34 pm      

Borough can't block waste-coal traffic, PennDOT says

LILLY — The Colver Power Project apparently holds the winning hand in the debate about whether trucks can rumble down the borough’s Piper Street.

While a locality can require a company to post bond or enter into a maintenance deal – being reimbursed for excessive road wear – it cannot refuse use of the road, said Alison Wenger, a spokeswoman with PennDOT in Harrisburg.

“PennDOT’s Bureau of Municipal Services says (Lilly) cannot ban the truck company from using the road. It has to be open to the public,” Wenger said.

The Colver Power Project holds leases with two property owners in Washington Township, and plans to transport about 450,000 tons of coal refuse to its Ebensburg-area generating plant.

A glitch in the plan is Piper Street – a short stretch owned by the borough that links the township to Route 53.

Residents on the street and adjacent areas say the trucks will be hazardous and create dirt during the five years of the operation.

PennDOT’s position is not news to Lilly officials, council Vice President Dick Sweeney said Friday.

Sweeney made a motion this week to enter into an excessive maintenance agreement with Colver Power, but the motion died for lack of a second.

“They absolutely have the right to use the road,” Sweeney said. “We’ve been told that there is no way we can stop them from running on the street as long as they bond it.”

One hammer the state holds over municipalities is the liquid fuels fund, money paid by Harrisburg to help maintain local roads. Lilly receives $24,800 annually, Hollidaysburg PennDOT spokeswoman Tara Callahan said.

Even if Lilly officials forgo the liquid fuels money for Piper Street, the company could sue to force the borough to allow use of the street.

Colver Power officials say lawsuits are not the way to generate public support. But their attorney, John Latella of Pittsburgh, hasn’t ruled that out.

“I haven’t – nor have any representatives of my client – ever threatened any legal action in this excessive maintenance agreement. It’s not the way this company has done things in this county,” Latella said.

“If they’d cut me loose, I’ll eat up two years of their (Lilly) budget at the courthouse, if that’s what it comes down to,” he said.

Washington Township officials, more supportive of the bony pile project, on Wednesday approved a road agreement with the company.

“It’s been tested in court, and we won’t fight this. To me, that would be eating up money the township doesn’t have,” township Supervisor Ray Guzic said.

Lilly officials said it’s premature to say if the maintenance deal will be on council’s July agenda.

“It’s not going to go away. I guarantee,” Sweeney said.