Susquehanna Co. planners 'forced to vote' on compressor station

Montrose, Susquehanna County- Accused of bowing to outside influences, members of the county's planning commission overrode boisterous public opposition to a compressor station and unanimously approved a plan submitted by Williams Field Services to construct the facility in close proximity to two other stations. All three stations will be located within a two-mile radius of Elk Lake schools, according to neighbors.

The planning commission initially delayed a vote on the compressor station in December. Multiple people who attended the meeting to object to the compressor station claimed commission members had been pressured to call an emergency meeting and approve the conditional plan. A Susquehanna County Commissioners' meeting is set for 9 a.m. Wednesday. Most in attendance at Tuesday evening's tense meeting planned to elevate their concerns to county commissioners. At the very earliest, a vote wasn't expected for another two weeks.

At the conclusion of the meeting, a man later identified to be Robert Templeton, the county's planning director, ordered a sheriff's deputy to remove Eyewitness News reporter Joe Holden after being questioned about who he was. The man instructed the deputy to remove everyone from the meeting room. Templeton refused to identify himself to Eyewitness News. Deputies ignored Templeton's request. Templeton left without acknowledging a litany of questions from Eyewitness News about his role in the commission's decision. No official on the planning commission would address why an emergency meeting had been called.