Council did not vote on the ordinance after a motion to vote failed to receive a second following significant opposition from residents<\/a>, who urged the borough to further limit where they allow data centers by keeping them across the Casey Highway from homes while also applying even more restrictions.\n<\/p>\nCouncil will reconsider its original ordinance during a special meeting Monday at 5 p.m. at the Borough Building, 400 Church St.\n<\/p>\n
\u2018We don\u2019t have the money\u2019<\/p>\n
During his remarks Wednesday, Moran told borough officials that the Valley View School Board asked him to attend the meeting. He asked council to pass the data center zoning ordinance, though he acknowledged he had not yet reviewed it.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy hope is that it is adopted. My hope is that it is reasonable. My hope is that if I look at it and I agree with it, it is not going to chase development away,\u201d Moran said. \u201cI\u2019m here simply to urge caution, slowing down and avoiding contempt prior to investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moran touted his own experience with data centers, including representing the Philadelphia Building & Construction Trades Council and its 42 construction unions, which built two large data centers nearly a decade ago in Montgomery County.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI had the opportunity in the last six months to look at the tax benefit to the taxing districts in Montgomery County. Those two buildings that we erected, that we haven\u2019t had a single complaint about, that we are proud of, and it\u2019s in the millions of dollars,\u201d Moran said. \u201cSo I did the same with the two proposals that are moving forward in Archbald, and then I asked the developer to meet with me, our school district superintendent and our business manager in his office, and I asked him to confirm my understanding of my belief that each of those buildings will produce \u2026 close to $5 million for the school district alone, and it was accurate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Receiving $10 million from two projects alone would be \u201cdesperately needed money\u201d for a district with a structural deficit, Moran said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have the money,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have just enough money in our checking account to pay payroll and keep the lights on, but every month we have a debate about canceling or suspending music or art.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moran said he also represents a property owner in Covington Twp. who sold 800 acres for data centers and spoke with the developer behind that project. Developers propose to build more than two dozen data centers in a sprawling campus along Interstate 380 in Clifton and Covington townships.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThe tax benefit to the North Pocono School District from that one project will be $62 million a year,\u201d Moran said. \u201cThat is more than Valley View\u2019s entire budget.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a phone interview Thursday, Valley View Business Manager Corey Castellani repeatedly emphasized that Valley View has no part in the decision making process for data centers \u2014 it is up to the boroughs. The district wants to put itself in a better financial situation if the data centers are already permitted, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they are principally permitted already, and if they are coming, all we\u2019re trying to do is take advantage and try to get as much money as we could for the district and for the taxpayers,\u201d Castellani said. \u201cIf we\u2019re getting an influx of revenue, up to $5 million per data center (campus), that could help us by not raising taxes more or possibly even giving taxpayers real estate tax cuts if we could.\u201d<\/p>\n
Castellani said he wants to avoid a situation like the host agreement with Chicago-based Invenergy LLC\u2019s Lackawanna Energy Center natural gas-fired power plant in Jessup, which gave the district $100,000 per year for five years.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody was fighting against Invenergy,\u201d Castellani said. \u201cIn the end, they ended up coming anyway, regardless of all the opposition and everything else, and the school basically got pretty much nothing out of that deal.\u201d<\/p>\n
In March 2016, Jessup entered into a community host agreement with the Lackawanna Energy Center. Among the financial incentives, the energy center agreed to pay Jessup a total of $500,000 during the construction period, $1 million annually with 10% increases every decade once the plant commenced commercial operations, and during its first five years of commercial operations, the power plant would pay $400,000 annually as a government services fee, with a minimum of $100,000 during each of those five years going to Valley View.<\/p>\n
The funds from data centers would help Valley View\u2019s students, taxpayers and buildings, Castellani said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are struggling financially,\u201d he said. \u201cEvery year, our budget goes up, we raise taxes, and we still can\u2019t pretty much break even because our expenses are so high.\u201d<\/p>\n
Castellani pointed to costs associated with health care, charter schools, special education and retirement. Valley View brings in about $17 million annually in real estate taxes with a roughly $45 million budget, he said. Other schools in the area have budgets of $50 million to $60 million that bring in $40 million-plus in taxes.<\/p>\n
\u201cA windfall of that nature \u2026 would drastically change the financial situation of the school district,\u201d Castellani said. \u201cBy bringing in more money, it\u2019s going to change the whole structure of Valley View School District.\u201d<\/p>\n
Revenue from data centers would give Valley View more money for its contracts with teachers and employees, services, students and programs, Castellani said, explaining the district\u2019s top priorities are safety and education.<\/p>\n
Superintendent Brian Durkin echoed Castellani in a phone interview, saying Valley View was left out of negotiations with the power plant and received a \u201cless-than-fair host agreement.\u201d Durkin was not superintendent at the time.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs the superintendent, I want to make sure that if they are coming, which my understanding is they are, we want to make sure that we try the best we can to get a seat at the table, to make sure that we get the best agreement for our students and faculty as we can,\u201d Durkin said.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/STT-L-VALLEYVIEW-1122-02.jpg\")
A sign welcomes visitors to Valley View Middle School on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. The district sees opportunity for additional revenue as Archbald deals with the potential influx of data centers in the area. The district sent Archbald a letter requesting that the borough rezone the entirety of Valley View\u2019s property on Columbus Drive from residential to light industrial. (CHAD SEBRING\/STAFF PHOTO)
\n\u2018Make the school district more valuable\u2019<\/p>\n
In a letter submitted to Archbald, which borough Manager Dan Markey read during Wednesday\u2019s meeting, Moran wrote he was formally requesting a zoning map amendment for Valley View\u2019s property in Archbald to rezone it from a medium density residential district to a light industrial district.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Valley View School District strives to provide safe, modern and adaptable facilities that meet the educational needs of our students and the broader Archbald community,\u201d Moran wrote. \u201cAs we continue to plan for the improvement and long-term sustainability of our campuses, it has become clear that the current zoning designation does not accurately reflect how this property is used, nor does it support our mission as an educational institution.\u201d<\/p>\n
The district\u2019s property is institutional in nature, and labeling it as a medium density residential district is a mischaracterization, he wrote. Valley View\u2019s land also adjoins Lockheed Martin\u2019s property, which is zoned for light industrial, according to the letter.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cAs the district continues to modernize and improve its educational facilities, rezoning this property to (light industrial) will more accurately reflect its institutional and campus-style use while allowing the district to pursue improvements that best serve our students and community,\u201d Moran wrote.<\/p>\n
Archbald\u2019s March 2023 zoning ordinance defines light industrial zoning as, \u201cTo provide for a variety of industrial development, while not allowing for heavy industrial uses that are likely to result in hazards or nuisances. To also allow for complementary commercial uses.\u201d<\/p>\n
Permitted uses in light industrial zones include amusement parks, arenas, bakeries, car washes, data centers, hotels, lumber yards, offices, plant nurseries, veterinarian offices, manufacturing uses, hospitals and warehousing. Schools are not permitted in light industrial zones, though Valley View\u2019s buildings would be grandfathered in under their existing zoning. If council adopts its data center ordinance Monday, data centers will no longer be permitted in light industrial zones.<\/p>\n
The zoning request stems from a recent Valley View School Board meeting where Moran explained to the board that the market value of Valley View\u2019s properties is based on zoning, Castellani said. Moran told the board that if their property was rezoned for industrial uses, the market value of the property would increase drastically, Castellani said. A majority of school directors asked Moran to move forward with the request, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe main purpose of that whole thing was to make the school district more valuable,\u201d Castellani said. \u201cWe\u2019re not talking about selling anything at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n
If Valley View gets a higher market value from light industrial zoning, it will help the district when it takes out loans, such as tax anticipation loans, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just makes you worth that much more money overall, which is a positive thing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The district is looking to rezone the entirety of its land in Archbald, totaling 170-plus acres, Durkin said.\n<\/p>\n
Asked whether Valley View has had any discussions to sell any of its property in light of seeking a higher valuation, Durkin said there have been no discussions.<\/p>\n
Markey was unsure how the borough will address Valley View\u2019s request. He anticipates council will wait until January when its new members take their seats.<\/p>\n
To rezone the land, Archbald would have to once again amend its zoning ordinance and map, which involves sending it to the borough and county planning commissions with up to 30 days for comment, followed by scheduling a public hearing and posting affected properties with a 30-day notice prior to holding the hearing. Council could then vote after the hearing, Markey said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAggressively speaking, you\u2019re looking at at least a three- to four-month timeline, and that\u2019s without any potential ordinance review,\u201d Markey said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Although the Valley View School District has no control over proposed data centers within its borders, school administrators…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":42409,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[2117,2118,2116,2119,201,182,139,28,178,180,179,181],"class_list":{"0":"post-42408","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-scranton","8":"tag-archbald","9":"tag-blakely","10":"tag-data-centers","11":"tag-jessup","12":"tag-lackawanna-county","13":"tag-local-news","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-pennsylvania","16":"tag-scranton","17":"tag-scranton-headlines","18":"tag-scranton-news","19":"tag-top-stories-stt"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42408","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=42408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42408\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/STT-L-VALLEYVIEW-1122-01.jpg\")
A sign welcomes visitors to Valley View High School on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. The district sees opportunity for additional revenue as Archbald deals with the potential influx of data centers in the area. The district sent Archbald a letter requesting that the borough rezone the entirety of Valley View\u2019s property on Columbus Drive from residential to light industrial. (CHAD SEBRING\/STAFF PHOTO)\n<\/p>\n