Manchester Township Board – “NO” on Oil Moratorium
Manchester Township Hall
The Manchester Township Board met last Tuesday evening at 7pm. Multiple township residents came out in anticipation of the board voting on a proposed moratorium on oil and gas drilling in Manchester Township. The moratorium was considered by the planning commission board in early June who voted unanimously to recommend that the township board vote “no”. So it was correctly believed that the moratorium would not pass.
It seemed that there was misunderstanding as to the purpose and definition of a moratorium. While the moratorium would have been a temporary halt on drilling to give the township time to get ordinances in place to protect property owners and the environment before drilling begins, board members felt that the moratorium was an affront to personal property rights and that because drilling is inevitable, a moratorium is pointless. Treasurer, Laurie Carey stated that if no moratorium is going to be in place, then the planning commission needs to make getting the proper ordinances in place a top priority.
During the public comment section of the meeting, Jeana Watson, Laurie Coburn & Caleb Coon spoke for a reconsideration of the oil moratorium.
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