MIDDLESEX TWP — So far township taxpayers have paid $35,741 to defend a challenge to a zoning ordinance regarding where gas and oil drilling and its related activities can occur in the township.

The eighth session of the hearing will be at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at the township fire hall.

The township supervisors passed the zoning ordinance amendment in August. Four Middlesex residents plus the Philadelphia-based environmental groups the Clean Air Council and the Delaware Riverkeeper Network are challenging that amendment saying it allows unconventional gas drilling operations in much of the township.

Attorneys from the township, Rex Energy and MarkWest Energy Partners support the amendment.

The challengers maintain that gas drilling is an industrial activity that does not belong in the residential-agricultural zone. Rex Energy and the township say drilling is a temporary construction activity that is less disruptive than the construction of a housing plan.

The challenge caused a halt to the work on the five Rex Energy gas wells at the Bob and Kim Geyer farm on Denny Road, which a group of Mars School District parents have protested because they say operations would pose a health and safety hazard to the students in the nearby Mars schools.

Of the nearly $36,000 paid by the township since the challenge began in November:

n $16,434 has been paid to the Butler law firm of Murrin, Taylor, Flach, Gallagher & May for Mike Gallagher, the zoning hearing board solicitor who is running the hearings

n $15,782 has been paid to the Butler law firm of Dillon McCandless King Coulter & Graham for township solicitor Mike Hnath, who is one of the attorneys defending the ordinance amendment

n $3,084 for the stenographer

n $441 for miscellaneous expenses

Mike Spreng, chairman of the township supervisors, said at the December supervisors meeting that the road resurfacing program planned for the spring and summer could suffer because the money listed under that line item in the 2015 township budget could be used for the zoning challenge.

And expenses are expected to increase as the hearings continue. The cost also could increase significantly after the zoning board rules on the matter because the losing side is expected to appeal the decision to county court.

Resident Reid Joyce said he and other property owners who oppose the ordinance are paying twice. He noted that many of those against the ordinance are contributing personal funds to the Clean Air Council for the services of Jordan Yeager, the lead attorney in challenging the ordinance, in addition to paying township taxes.

Joyce said he continues to hear complaints about the money that is being spent by the township, but said the supervisors are defending themselves against many of their own taxpayers who want to enjoy their property.

Joyce also refuted the notion that Yeager or the Clean Air Council came from the eastern part of the state to recruit residents for the challenge. He said Yeager was contacted by the group that opposes the ordinance and the construction of the Geyer wells near the Mars schools.

“It’s been the sentiment that the big city lawyers are coming in to represent their own agenda,” Joyce said, “and that’s not how it started.”

Diane Arnold, who has attended Middlesex supervisors meetings to express her concerns since the advent of shale gas drilling a few years ago, said the legal costs would not have been necessary if the supervisors had passed a better ordinance.

“I wish it wouldn’t have come out of the budget, but I wish they would have passed an ordinance that was fair,” Arnold said.

She said the challenge may not have been necessary had the supervisors collected more information from all residents.

“In my opinion, it was clear that we were taking care of the leaseholders,” Arnold said.

Those in favor of the ordinance, Arnold said, are keen on placing blame for the expense to fight the challenge.

“I think this is a red herring,” she said. “They are using the (expenditure) as a way to slander the people who are standing up for the health and well being of their community and what’s fair for the community.”

Crystal Yost, who is an original member of the parents group that opposes the wells being drilled near the schools, pointed out that the township planning commission recommended that the supervisors table the amendment.

“I think its pretty disappointing that the supervisors went against their own planning commission and made a zoning change that was written and requested by one industry, leaving taxpayers vulnerable to the personal and financial costs,” Yost said.

She said that had the supervisors taken their time in deciding on the amendment, they would not have been open to a legal challenge.

But those in favor of the amendment see things differently.

Kim Geyer said the taxpayers of Butler County, not just Middlesex Township, could be affected by the legal challenge.

Geyer explained that if the challenge deters further shale gas development, the county will receive less revenue from the impact fees that drillers are charged.

“It deters road and bridge projects and other programs in the township or county because of reduced impact fees,” Geyer said.

She said she also feels badly that tax dollars are paying the legal fees for the challenge.

“I’ve said all along that defending a suit at this level is going to cost the taxpayers money that could be spent elsewhere,” Geyer said. “It saddens our whole family that the Middlesex taxpayers are paying these costs.”

She predicts that history will prove the challenge was a bad idea.

“Years down the road we’re all going to look back and say ‘Oh boy, why did this happen?’” Geyer said.

Janice Kennedy, who lives near the Geyers, is upset at the cost of the challenge.

“I’m livid,” she said. “That money could be used for a lot of other things, like patching potholes.”

She said taxpayers could face a tax increase if costs to defend the amendment climb.

“They were hoping they wouldn’t have to raise taxes, but who knows how much will be spent?” Kennedy said. “I’m not happy with it at all.”

Spreng did not return calls from the Eagle regarding the expenditure, but the 2015 budget expenditure predicted for legal fees, including planning and zoning special legal services, is $25,000.