September 8, 2000

The Brush Valley Preservation Association (BVPA) has made several attempts over the last month to obtain a copy of the option agreement between the Northumberland County Development Corporation and the Roaring Creek Division of Consumers Water Company to no avail.

The county provided $5,000 to the water company to secure the right to purchase the nearly 2,000 acres of Brush Valley for development. Under the Right to Know Law, this agreement is a public document since the county has already paid taxpayer money to Consumers and the agreement has been finalized.

Unfortunately, the county has been uncooperative in providing the document to BVPA. After sending a formal letter of request in addition to emails, BVPA received a letter from the County's solicitor, Jim Zurich, stating the officers of the Redevelopment Corporation must first meet to discuss whether or not BVPA will be able to obtain a copy of the agreement. BVPA has learned through various legal and local government experts that this action by the county is a direct violation of the Right to Know Law since the document must be made available regardless of whether or not the county deems it necessary.

Tom Linzey, an attorney for the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, has agreed to send a letter on behalf of BVPA requesting the document. Linzey will explain in the letter that if the county does not provide the document in a reasonable amount of time to BVPA, legal action will be taken. BVPA has already consulted with an attorney who will provide legal consultation and litigate the case on a pro bono basis. According to John Faraguna, "BVPA questions if, as the county claims, the purchase of Brush Valley would be so beneficial to our community, why do the county commissioners continue to shroud the details of the project in secrecy.

BVPA believes that once the details of the county's project are brought into the light of day, the public will see the commissioners' plan benefits only a few, while burdening many."