SAINT CLAIR - Borough council President James D. Larish shared "good news" Tuesday night at the council meeting.
The Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board recently found that the Blythe Recycling and Demolition Site was unlawfully issued the permit, so the board sent the permit back to the state Department of Environmental Protection for further investigation.
"The landfill cannot proceed at this point unless and until the remanded issues are reviewed and have been acted on by DEP," Larish said.
The borough council has been appealing a July 16, 2012, decision by DEP to approve the landfill application that would allow Blythe Township to construct and operate a municipal waste facility on 252 acres along Burma Road, overturning a previous decision.
The proposed site is 2,400 feet from Wolf Creek Reservoir, the drinking water source for the City of Pottsville, Mechanicsville, Palo Alto, Port Carbon and Saint Clair boroughs and parts of Blythe, East Norwegian, New Castle and Norwegian townships.
The proposal stated that the lined landfill will only accept construction and demolition waste and have a 1,500-ton daily volume.
Among the issues that need to be remanded is a mine subsidence evaluation.
Borough solicitor Edward Brennan said that in the underground mine, there are different cells, and in the last cell, there's "a significant underground mining issue" that Blythe Township and developer FKV LLC did not properly address.
He said that the township and developer had no credible source that the issue was being addressed.
"On that issue, they have to do a lot more drilling and come up with a plan," Brennan said. "The danger is if it collapses. It is a setback for FKV and Blythe. The permit is not full-steam ahead. I think it shows that we were right. We have reasonable concern."
The council also approved a motion Tuesday night to allow its solicitor to petition to the court to dissolve its conservatorship of the former Ritz Theatre at 31 N. Second St.
Brennan said that it had previously sought conservatorship from the owner, Nicholas Panko, Saint Clair, to try to find a buyer to either bring it up to code or demolish it, but it is in such poor condition that no buyers were interested.
Brennan will now be seeking a petition to dissolve it and to ask that Panko take action with the building.
There were numerous residents at the meeting Tuesday complaining about the former theater, saying that something needs to be done with the deteriorating building.
Acting Police Chief William M. Dempsey also announced that the police department is trying to work with the borough and borough engineers to address the overflow of parking at Coal Creek Commerce Center at certain times when there's multiple patrons at the restaurants and nowhere to park.