navigating<\/a> a deemed approval challenge from the developer of the 18-building Project Scott data center campus between Eynon Jermyn Road and Business Route 6.\n<\/p>\nLackawanna County Commissioner Bill Gaughan, a vocal data center opponent who testified against Wildcat Ridge in January, worried that the motions will have a chilling effect on every elected official in the county who has to deal with data centers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have the money, they have the lawyers, and if local government stands in their way, they\u2019re going to remove the local government from the equation,\u201d Gaughan said. \u201cIt\u2019s like something out of a mafia-style movie, but I don\u2019t think people should be scared because that will only go so far, and I expect that there will be no judge in this country that will have these elected officials recuse themselves from doing their job. This is just a tactic to try to chill their speech, and I don\u2019t think that anybody should fall for their tactics.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are 51 data centers proposed in Archbald across six projects, with another developer considering at least two more data centers in the Valley View Business Park. A data center developer also proposes an Essential Energy LLC natural gas power plant on Eynon Jermyn Road.\n<\/p>\n
The motions<\/p>\n
Wildcat Ridge\u2019s attorneys filed the initial motions Aug. 4, requesting that council President Louis Rapoch and council members Larry Marchetti, Madonna Munley, Lisa Osborne, Erin Owen and Larry West remove themselves from future proceedings. Altier was left out until Aug. 31. Rapoch and Owen are the only elected council members. The other five were appointed in 2026 following resignations.\n<\/p>\n
The motions rely on the same arguments and legal principles, including referencing the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code, due process under the U.S. Constitution\u2019s 14th Amendment and case law, but they cite different actions by each council member as evidence of bias.<\/p>\n
Wildcat Ridge\u2019s attorneys point to Altier\u2019s interview with borough council when he applied for a vacant seat, as well as his and wife\u2019s activity on Facebook, and contentions that he has \u201cimpermissibly taken independent research beyond evidence admitted at the hearing on the application.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Jan. 20, while interviewing council candidates during a special meeting, Owen asked Altier about the pros and cons of data centers proposed on Eynon Jermyn Road. Altier responded that he does not want them at all, but if they are coming, he does not want them in residential areas or schools, according to the motion. Other candidates who were interviewed \u201cdid not express personal animosity to data centers and instead stated their beliefs about both positive and negative effects,\u201d Liben and Watterson wrote.\n<\/p>\n
Wildcat Ridge\u2019s lawyers note that Altier has been a member of the \u201cStop Data Centers in Archbald Group\u201d since at least November.\n<\/p>\n
The motion cites a resident\u2019s Facebook comment in an Aug. 5 thread discussing a news article about the recusals. The resident wrote, \u201cWhy ask 6 out of 7 to recuse? Why not joe? I\u2019ll tell ya why, its an attempt to cause infighting among residents. They see us unite and the solution is to create questions ie why not joe? Rumors will start and then arguing and then we are weaker. Don\u2019t fall for it. No one needs to recuse.\u201d<\/p>\n
A second commenter defended Altier, writing, \u201cJoe has publicly come out against the Data Centers since day one ! So don\u2019t let this community be fooled of anything different!! Joe is fighting day in and out to stop this nightmare!\u201d The motion points out that Altier\u2019s wife reacted to the comment with a heart,\u00a0and although Altier replied to other comments on the post, he did not disavow that he was against data centers nor make an effort to express his impartiality, according to the motion.<\/p>\n
Finally, the data center attorneys quote a comment lauding Altier, with a poster writing, \u201cThere is nobody who has devoted more time to researching, understanding, and educating himself on hyperscale data centers and the impacts they could have on our community than Joe. He has done so at great personal sacrifice, taking time away from both his business and his family because he believes this issue matters. If the goal is to divide and conquer, it\u2019s not going to work. Joe has earned my respect and gratitude for the countless hours he has invested on behalf of all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Altier replied, \u201cthank you Sir. I appreciate your support.\u201d The recusal motion cites that comment to argue Altier conducted research beyond evidence presented at the hearing.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s next?<\/p>\n
It was unclear Tuesday how council will proceed with Wednesday\u2019s hearing in light of Wildcat Ridge\u2019s motions.<\/p>\n
Altier and borough Solicitor Jay O\u2019Connor declined to comment due to litigation. Wildcat Ridge did not respond to an emailed request for comment by 5 p.m. Tuesday.\n<\/p>\n
Should council recognize the motions, there are other potential outcomes. The developer\u2019s challenge could invoke Pennsylvania\u2019s rule of necessity, which allows council to decide on the application even if conflicts exist among the majority of its members.<\/p>\n
The Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code \u2014 the legal framework for municipal zoning \u2014 also provides for a \u201chearing officer,\u201d allowing the governing body to appoint any member or an independent attorney to the role for conditional use proceedings.<\/p>\n
Gaughan called the developer\u2019s actions\u00a0corporate arrogance, contending, \u201cWhen your response to scrutiny is to try to remove every person doing the scrutinizing, you\u2019re making the public\u2019s case for skepticism better than anyone ever could.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the people of the county need to understand how extraordinary this is,\u201d he said. \u201cThis developer has been given, hearing after hearing, the opportunity to present lawyers and expert witnesses, cross-examine opponents, and make its case. That\u2019s due process \u2014 due process doesn\u2019t mean you get to remove every elected official who might disagree with you.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Citing social media comments and a councilman\u2019s wife\u2019s reaction to a Facebook post as evidence of bias, attorneys…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":281845,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[2117,2116,201,182,139,28,178,180,179,181],"class_list":["post-281844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-archbald","tag-data-centers","tag-lackawanna-county","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-top-stories-stt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=281844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281844\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/281845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=281844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=281844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=281844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}