Wright town board members agreed to have a college professor and representatives from the Schoharie County planning commission speak at a workshop on August 15 as town officials hash out what direction to take on hydrofracking.
The decision ended a sometimes heated workshop Wednesday night as board members and residents argued whether the workshop, which had been postponed by Supervisor Bill Goblet, was in session.
As for hydrofracking, board members agreed to ask Union College professor George Shaw and members of the county planning committee give the board information about resources in the town and how they could be affected by hydrofracking.
Using that information, combined with the concerns of residents, board members will agree on the next step on hydrofracking, whether it is a ban or other action. Board members will use the town's comprehensive plan to help them make any decision and could update that plan.
Resident Nan Stolzenburg, who has expertise in land use, said the use of the comprehensive plan would give the board background and a strong foundation for a decision which could help prevent lawsuits.
"We have to get our ducks in a row," she said.
"The comprehensive plan stands up in court," Mr. Goblet added.
Any decision should be based on clear rationale and reason, said Ms. Stolzenburg, who also said she would volunteer to help the board with the process of making a decision.
The comprehensive plan, she said, "clearly states what type of town the people wanted."
Most people said they wanted a clean, agricultural, low-density and rural town, she said, and officials would have to determine if an industry, such as hydrofracking, would fit in that definition.
Mr. Shaw had done a water survey of the town and there was much concern about possible water contamination by fracking.
Though fracking may not happen anytime soon, said board member Jean Burton, "We need to look to the future to what resources we want to protect. Water is number one."
Board member Ed Thornton said the town has two of three big waterbeds and "God forbid they get contaminated."
Most people spoke against allowing fracking in the town last week.
Ms. Stolzenburg said she would like to see a ban.
"I've seen what it does to communities and I don't want to see that happen to the Town of Wright," she said.
There was talk about having a committee or reviving the town's old Conservation Advisory Committee but Mr. Goblet said, "Committees are fine but we need an expert to guide us."
The workshop on fracking almost never happened.
It was scheduled for Wednesday night but Mr. Goblet said he spoke to two board members about postponing it until August 15 and had their consent because he had to meet with two people about town assessments.
At the beginning of the workshop, board members Ms. Burton and Mr. Thornton sat at the board table and Mr. Goblet sat in the rear of the town hall, so with no official quorum, no action was taken.
About 20 minutes into the session, board member Alex Luniewski arrived and was very agitated.
He said he had received at least two e-mails about the workshop on whether it was on or off.
"What is going on here?" he asked after entering the door and throwing down his papers.
"What are we doing?
There needs to be some direction," he said.
"Someone needs to grow some (guts) and make a decision.
"Is there a meeting or no meeting?"
From the back of the room, Mr. Goblet said, "This is Mrs. Burton's meeting. She is determined to have her way."
Ms. Burton said it was advertised as a public hearing.
Mr. Thornton added, "He (Mr. Goblet) doesn't want to be part of it."
Mr. Luniewski answered, "If he's in the room, he's part of it."
Resident Everett Seymour of Murphy Road told him, "Your frustration is our frustration."
Mr. Goblet said he rescheduled the workshop because of a conflict. He said he did so with the consent of two board members.
"You did not notify us," Mr. Thornton said.
"Everyone knows we have a big issue with the assessments (because of the flood)," Mr. Goblet said. He was scheduled to have two people come in to discuss the assessments but only one showed.
"We need to know who's running this ship. This is bull," Mr. Luniewski said.
He agreed to be part of the workshop and at about 7:30pm, Mr. Goblet said he would preside over the session.
At the end of the night, Mr. Luniewski apologized for his outburst.
Mr. Goblet explained again that he spoke to two board members a few days prior to the scheduled hearing.
"Sometimes we have to take a little shortcut," he said.
"We need to stay in touch with each other," Mr. Thornton said.
It is nice to be informed, he added.