SUNBURY — There were more than 50 people at the Northumberland County commissioners’ meeting Tuesday, but they weren’t serving popcorn as the commissioners once again entertained audience members by prompting them to laugh, boo and cheer.
It started when two commissioners brought a prop, an empty chair, to the public meeting to illustrate their tiff with county Judge Charles Saylor.
Saylor, who was not in attendance, was asked by Commissioners Steve Bridy and Vinny Clausi to attend the meeting to watch them “adjust” his ruling that residents are allowed to be on county-owned land known as the Anthracite Outdoor Adventure Area.
Bridy and Clausi voted to have county solicitors draft an ordinance that will permit only authorized individuals to use the land.
Commissioner Rick Shoch voted against the motion — for now.
The proposal will be voted on at a special meeting Oct. 15, but Shoch said he thinks the county needs more time to review the issue and speak with residents before he can make a decision.
Clausi and Bridy said the county has had plenty of time because for the last five years, the adventure area project has been under way and a policy is needed because of a booby trap recently found on the land.
“If something were to happen because we didn’t have a policy in place, the blood would be on your hands, Commissioner Shoch,” Bridy said. “We need to protect the residents of this county.”
After an hour of debate and heated exchanges between the commissioners, the subject of Saylor was discussed.
“The judge was invited here today so we could tell him exactly what we thought of his verdict,” Bridy said. “He should not have heard the case, and we wanted to tell him that to his face.”
Saylor ruled that Clausi and Bridy skirted the Sunshine Law by meeting individually with planning director Pat Mack and instructing him to write a letter to a Shamokin man banning him from entering the land rather than convening a public meeting to discuss who could have access to the publicly owned ATV park.
The commissioners placed a sign reading, “Reserved for the Honorable Judge Saylor,” on a desk chair in the public meeting room at the administration building.
The chair is only part of the two commissioners’ campaign against the judge. They promise to appeal his decision and maintain that following Saylor’s strict interpretation of the Sunshine Law would cripple their ability to operate. Under the Sunshine Law, any time a quorum of board members is involved in official deliberations, a public meeting should be convened.
The commissioners said Saylor should have recused himself from the case because he has disagreed with the commissioners previously.
“He can call me a grinch or a bully all he wants,” Clausi told the audience. “We did nothing wrong, and we will show that.”
Clausi, Bridy and Shoch argued for nearly the three hours of the meeting while several audience members voicing concerns about banning people from the park cheered, booed and laughed.
Shoch discussed the possibility of the county taking the show on the road and having public meetings throughout the county.
Clausi said the county tried that, and it was a disaster because it was too hard to hear people, record minutes and get people to attend.
Bridy said it would cost too much money and could become a legal issue if something were to happen.
Shoch asked that the board consider it, and Bridy said he would agree to look at all options and he wanted a report, even if the report came from Shoch himself.
“If Mr. Shoch wants to donate his time and go out and scout out places and see what is all involved, then I will look at it,” Bridy said. “He can give me a detailed report.”
Clausi voted no, and a woman took the microphone and simply said, “Please.”
“I can’t always make the day meetings,” she said. “I want to be able to come and watch you argue. You guys have a target on you for being in the position you are in, and I commend you, but there are some serious issues here, and I would like to be able to attend more meetings.”
Another women asked the commissioners to talk to each other.
“This has to stop,” she said. “You guys need to get along.”
For a minute, the commissioners discussed the possibility and “got along,” while passing a motion that the suggestion would be considered.
News
Related Photos
-
A chair reserved for Judge Saylor sits empty during Tuesday's commissioners' meeting.
Discussion
Empty chair awaits judge at commissioners' meeting
- News
-
-
Police detail threats in kidnap case
MILTON — More details have emerged about the incident in which a Sunbury man was charged with pointing a handgun at and threatening to shoot the father of a 3-year-old girl, whom he subsequently kidnapped from their home on Timberhaven Drive in Kelly Township, Union County, according to authorities.
-
Up to 100 pilots to compete Saturday
SELINSGROVE — Up to 100 pilots from Pennsylvania and Canada will be flying into the Penn Valley Airport on Saturday to test their skills in a barnstorming event.
-
TRAFFIC ADVISORY: Route 15 just south of Lewisburg
LEWISBURG — Motorists traveling on Route 15 in Union County are advised to be alert for lane closures in both the northbound and southbound directions at the scene of a water main break near North Armory Boulevard, south of Lewisburg.
-
BREAKING NEWS: Missing teen found safe
UPDATE: Mackenzie Greco has been found safe in Mount Carmel Township.
More information will be posted as it becomes available.
-
TRAFFIC ADVISORY: Route 35 just west of Freeburg
FREEBURG — Motorists traveling along Route 35 in Snyder County are advised that the road is closed about one-half mile west of Freeburg where a large tree fell, bringing down utility wires and a pole.
-
Court Dockets
A roundup of news from local district and county courts.
-
Former TWA Flight 800 investigators want new probe
MINEOLA, N.Y. — Former investigators are pushing to reopen the probe into the 1996 crash of TWA Flight 800 off the coast of New York, saying new evidence points to the often-discounted theory that a missile strike may have downed the jumbo jet. The New York-to-Paris flight crashed July 17, 1996, just minutes after the jetliner took off from John F. Kennedy Airport, killing all 230 people aboard, including 16 students and five chaperones traveling to Europe from the Montoursville Area High School.
-
Today's Top Videos
-
Northumberland County receives grant to convert courthouse furnace
HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority today approved a grant of more than $114,000 to Northumberland County to assist in the project to convert the County Courthouse to a natural gas heating system.
-
Police Log
A daily roundup of police news from around the region.
-
Greater Susquehanna Valley United Way refuses funding for Boy Scouts
SUNBURY — The Greater Susquehanna Valley United Way board voted Tuesday to withhold $11,000 in discretionary funding to the Susquehanna Council of Boy Scouts of America after the national Scouting organization voted last month to allow openly gay youths as members, but not openly gay adults.
-
Senator: IRS handing out $70M in employee bonuses
The Internal Revenue Service is about to pay $70 million in employee bonuses despite an Obama administration directive to cancel discretionary bonuses because of automatic spending cuts enacted this year, according to a GOP senator.
-
10 Things to Know Today
Your daily look at late-breaking Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today:
-
USTA seeks 8 percent rate hike
LEWISBURG — Seniors and people with disabilities will soon have to dig deeper into their pockets as the Union-Snyder Transportation Alliance seeks approval to raise rates up to 50 cents per trip.
-
Sunbury man jailed on kidnapping charge
MILTON — A Sunbury man was charged by police with kidnapping after he allegedly took a 3-year-old girl at gunpoint Monday night from her home in Union County.
- U.S. war games send signal to Assad
-
PennDOT withholds funding plan from public
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has built a website that compares competing plans to spend billions of dollars in new transportation money, but it’s refusing to release similar information to the public, which will pay for chosen projects.
-
Reputed Mafioso tip triggers new Hoffa body search
The FBI saw enough merit in a reputed Mafia captain’s tip to once again break out the digging equipment to search for the remains of former Teamsters union leader Jimmy Hoffa, last seen alive before a lunch meeting with two mobsters nearly 40 years ago.
- More News Headlines
-
Police detail threats in kidnap case
