News broke recently that Franklin & Marshall College, in partnership with Lancaster General Hospital and Norfolk Southern Railroad company, are considering moving the Dillerville Rail Yard switching station from its current location between the college and Clipper Magazine Stadium to an 11-acre stretch of land between the Little Conestoga Creek and Harrisburg Pike.

An organization of seven residents calling themselves The Railroad Action Committee (TRAC) gave a presentation to some 130 neighbors at Grace Baptist Church on Marietta Avenue, Tuesday night, laying out why they oppose the plan.

Each of the TRAC members argued that the proposed move jeopardizes the health and quality of life of residents in the residential areas immediately surrounding the site.

“This is not an anti-F&M or an anti-LGH campaign,” said Kathy Ashworth, a TRAC member who lives on Farmingdale Road. “It is a campaign against the against the project as it has thus far been proposed and described.”

“This will forever change the personality of our neighborhoods,” she continued.

The group cited noise, light, diesel particulate matter, ground vibrations, personal safety, and disaster risk as major concerns.

Also, the proposed site currently has an industrial waste landfill, which would need to be dug up and filled in, and which the residents fear contains linoleum and asbestos.

Ashworth suggested that one of the college and hospital’s primary motivations for wanting to relocate the switching yard is to increase property values around the Armstrong site the two entities are jointly developing.

TRAC proposed that the developers consider alternative options with the current track configuration, including housing the tracks or even having them go underground.

“What we need is a win-win situation and I don’t think the proposed solution will do that for us,” Ashworth said.

The group also circulated petitions to governmental representatives at all levels to conduct and environmental impact study on the proposed project.

F&M and Lancaster General Hospital are expected to hold a public information session in June in order to present a more detailed plan.

More details to follow.

All are invited to attend a “Community Immigration Forum” on Wednesday, March 26 from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm in City Council Chambers at Southern Market Center in Downtown Lancaster.

Topics of discussion will include the experiences of immigrants in our area, legislation in Pennsylvania related to the issue of immigration, and problems with the federal immigration system, according to information disseminated by the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

Sponsors of the event include: the American Civil Liberties Union of PA, the Church World Service/Immigration Refugee Program, Friends of Farmworkers, the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Latino Affairs, Lancaster City Councilor Jose Urdaneta, the Lancaster City Human Relations Commission, the Lancaster County Human Relations Commission, the Lancaster NAACP, Lutheran Refugee Services in Central PA, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition, and Spanish American Civic Association of Lancaster.

Three local schools have apparently decided that they no longer wish to be used as polling places.

Citing safety concerns, the governing bodies of Taylor Elementary School of Columbia, Lancaster Christian School, and St. Anthony’s Catholic School of Lancaster have opted not to permit their usage as polling places starting with the state’s Primary Election on April 22, Chief Elections Clerk Mary Stehman said this morning.

Those previously voting at Taylor Elementary School – Columbia’s Sixth Ward – will now vote at the Columbia School District Administrative Center at 220 North Fifth Street.

Those previously voting at Lancaster Christian School in West Lampeter’s “Windy Hill District” will now vote at the Mill Creek Bible Church at 270 Strasburg Pike.

And those previously voting in the school cafeteria of St. Anthony’s Catholic School will not vote in the lower level meeting room of St. Anthony’s Catholic Church, which is located at 503 East Orange Street.

In West Donegal Township’s Second District, the polling place is being moved from the old school building at 1 Municipal Drive in Elizabethtown to the township municipal building in the same complex. This change, Stehman explained, is being made because the school building is very primitive and lacks heat.

Finally, voters in Akron Borough’s West District, who previously voted at the Akron Borough Muncipal Office, will now vote at the Akron Church of the Brethren at 613 Main Street. This change is being made because the local Judge of Elections determined that the original building was too small given the expected turnout, Stehman explained.

Commissioner Craig Lehman said he understands the safety concerns schools have but called it “a sad commentary” that they hesitate to host the cornerstone activity of democratic government.

“I think schools are the perfect place to have a living classroom about our country,” he continued.

“But I support them. I have an eight-year-old in third grade and I would rather have them err on the side of caution than not.”

He and Commissioner Scott Martin also suggested that they would support a national voting holiday.

At their weekly meeting tomorrow, the Commissioners are expected to entertain a presentation on the status of the project at 150 North Queen Street.

They are also expected to act to acquire by eminent domain 0.11 acres of land immediately adjacent the Auction Road Bridge in Penn and Rapho Townships. The bridge is being widened and the land, Acting County Engineer Keith Harner explained, is in the floodplain of the stream. The County will offer one land-owner $3600 and another $5,000 in compensation for the acquired land.

WATCHDOG: Shame on the monopoly Lancaster newspapers for abrogating its journalistic responsibility to report on how Commissioner Craig Lehman’s campaign received $46,000 from special interest groups. In this case, silence denotes complicity.

For those of us who found Ted Darcus’s actions as chair of the Convention Center heavy-handed and ignorant, it has been difficult to reconcile his despicable actions at the LCCCA with the splendid service he has long provided the youth of our community.

One of Darcus’s most outspoken critics experienced a revelation when he paid a visit to the three year old Bright Side Baptist Church on Hershey Avenue at Wabank Road. There across a good portion of one wall was a listing of the major donors for the $5 million church and community center.

Although primarily an African-American institution, it appears that Bright Side was funded almost entirely by the White elite, with names such as Buckwalter, Steinman and High prominent as major donors.

Unlike as with the LCCCA and Penn Square Partners, all of the money for Bright Side came from private sources. There were no government grants involved.

Not only has Darcus long worked for Bright Side, but he was one of the prime fund raisers for this estimable cause.

Is it a coincidence that soon after the funding was raised largely from Lancaster’s Power Elite that Darcus took over the helm of the LCCCA and rammed the project through despite considerable opposition and all logic?

Congratulations on raising the issue of the obvious conflict of interest with interim Lancaster County Convention Center Authority executive director, Art Morris, a longtime Lancaster Newspapers, Inc. columnist, representing the public to Penn Square Partners. Your readers undoubtedly know that half of Penn Square Partners is Lancaster Newspapers, Inc.

This should be unacceptable to the public, and it tarnishes Morris’s reputation as an ‘above-reproach’ public figure.

Whether Kevin Fry (not my choice) or Laura Douglas (my choice) represents the board, it certainly should not be in the hands of Mr. Morris, who has done the bidding for Penn Square Partners since at least 1999, and is a defendant, along with Lancaster Newspapers, in a libel lawsuit on the topic of coverage of the $170+million project.

Another LCCCA board member defends Morris’s involvement in these discussions with Penn Square Partners, saying the discussions are non-binding and preliminary. If that is the case, there is no reason that Morris should not immediately recuse himself. If they are so unimportant, why should Morris insist on representing the taxpayers in talks with his employer? Why have the appearance of a conflict of the public interest? Certainly, the very able Ms. Douglas can represent the public’s interest as well as Mr. Morris. Why does Mr. Morris insist on negotiating with Lancaster Newspapers, his boss?

Morris must do the right thing and let another board member speak with Penn Square Partners. Let’s see what virtuous ol’ Art will do.

Kudos to the Intell’s Jeff Hawkes for his substantive and thoughtful March 21 column “Smart money is on new plan for school funding.”

Hawkes describes how state aid for educating school children has shrunk over the decades to a point where Pennsylvania is 47th in a ranking of states for school funding equity. He cites as an example how $17,184 is spent per pupil in the suburbs of Philadelphia, but only $6,805 in Erie.

Hawkes praises Governor Ed Rendell for “proposing true reform – an actual funding formula, one that lifts up the neediest students.”

Nancy Collins, Franklin & Marshall Vice President for Communications, in a letter published Mar. 15 in the Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era, charged that a Mar. 8 column by New Era columnist Carol Petersen (“F&M’s what’s-good-for-us-is-good-for-you concept”) contained “a number of inaccuracies.”

One of these “inaccuracies” that Ms. Collins attempts to correct has to do with the Norfolk Southern Dillerville Rail Yard project. Ms. Collins writes that this “project would extend the yard approximately one-eighth of a mile westward along the rail line.” Ms. Collins added, “This project provides operational capacity for Norfolk Southern but will not change the types of products handled in the Dillerville yard nor the train schedules.”

Doesn’t Ms. Collins know that the railroad’s switching yard will be moved from its present location in F&M’s North Campus to a tract of land in proximity to Long’s Park and several up-scale residential neighborhoods in the Farmingdale Road area?

The purpose, said F&M spokesperson Keith Orris at a public meeting on Feb. 19, 2007, that was covered in the Intelligencer Journal on Feb. 20 (“Land swap draws fire,” Lori van Ingen) is to “give the college a place to relocate its athletic campus.”

This planned “land swap” will result in the switching yard being only a football field’s length away from a number of well-maintained and expensive homes. These homeowners have valid concerns regarding increased noise and pollution and a very likely drop in property values.

Mr. Orris was also quoted in that story as saying that the “residents won’t be able to stop the railroad from expanding” and promised that F&M would build “sound walls.” The same news story quotes a Manheim Twp. resident as saying that the “sound walls” would cause the sound to carry “over the walls” into East Hempfield.

The story stated that residents said that they wanted to talk to the railroad before the design phase, but Keith Orris responded: “Design and engineering will take place through the beginning of 2008 before the plan will be brought to government officials and the public.” This means that the residents would only be allowed to comment on a plan that had already been finalized in agreement by F&M and Norfolk Southern Railroad.

In her letter-to-the-editor, Ms. Collins said that Ms. Petersen should have “attempted to learn how these projects could benefit Lancaster before expressing an opinion publicly.” Doesn’t Ms. Collins know that this project is not in Lancaster or even Lancaster Township? According to the Feb. 20 New Era story quoted above, the land swap would be “entirely within Manheim Township.” Since the switching yard is being placed near several housing developments, how can this possibly benefit those homeowners?

Ms. Collins concludes her letter by saying, “We urge the New Era to hold its columnists to the same journalistic standards as it does its news writers, including checking facts, staying informed and adhering to professional standards when conducting interviews.” But her letter, which criticizes Ms. Petersen for other “inaccuracies” as well, exhibits a decided lack of factual information. It is as short on facts as it is long on rhetoric.

Kudos to the Intelligencer Journal for the March 21 article “Fears of being ‘railroaded’, Residents unite against train yard move.” A fair and balanced presentation of the controversy, the article quotes neighbor Dan Gillis as saying “[People] are resentful of the fact that things are being pushed without involving them…There’s been no dialogue, and in a free society, dialogue should take place.”

A public informational meeting sponsored by The Railroad Action Committee (TRAC) will be held on Tuesday, March 25, at 7:00 PM at the Grace Baptist Church, 1899 Marietta Avenue.

At Thursday’s meeting of the Public Relations, Marketing, & Hospitality Committee of the Lancaster County Convention Center Authority (LCCCA), Executive Director Art Morris said that he and member R.B. Campbell will be participating in a meeting with Penn Square Partners next week over the issue of naming rights.

But Mr. Morris downplayed the idea that the meeting will involve renegotiation of the controversial provisions which award half of the proceeds from the sale of naming rights to Penn Square Partners, the developer of the Marriott Hotel.

“It is not a negotiation of any kind. It’s simply a sit-down to talk about how we got to where we are,” Morris said.

He added, “I am not sure that we will even be able to get to any naming rights arrangement even if we want to because of the very short window at this point for us ordering things like signs for rooms and for the facility itself and so the chances of arriving at any kind of naming rights agreement arrangement, in my mind, is very low.”

“There may have been some confusion. If there’s been any and I’m at fault for that, I regret that, but there’s been no attempt – it’s simply an attempt to sit down and chat.”

He added that the talks will also involve a provision involving the 50/50 sharing of “air rights” over the Hotel tower.

Pressed by a NewsLanc reporter following the meeting as to the purpose of the proposed meeting, Morris refused to acknowledge that it has anything to do with the questions that have been raised publicly about the propriety of the said provisions, insisting repeatedly that the meeting is only for “fact finding.”

“Why are you fact-finding?” the reporter asked. “Isn’t it because you acknowledge potential improprieties?” Morris would not elaborate.

R.B Campbell subsequently told the reporter that, while it is primarily a fact-finding mission, it does have to do with the questions that have been raised publicly about the propriety of the current contracts. The intent, Campbell explained, is to bring the current members of the board up to speed on contracts which were negotiated before most of them took were appointed.

Earlier in the meeting, NewsLanc Publisher Robert E. Field had asked the committee to address four matters of profound concern: contracts ensuring the sharing of 50% of the proceeds of naming rights with Penn Square Partners, the sharing of 50% of future state grants with Penn Square Partners, abnormally low commissions from concessions sales, and the gifting of the right of first offer with respect to naming rights to S. Dale High himself.

Committee Chair Kevin Fry responded that he would raise the issues at the full board meeting next week.

It was also announced at Thursday’s committee meeting that 10 bookings, reflecting $150,600 in rental revenue, have been achieved to date for the Convention Center in 2009. The target for 2009 is 58 bookings and $506,077 of revenue from rentals.

Asked by committee chair Kevin Fry whether he is happy with the booking pace, Josh Nowak of Interstate Hotels & Resorts said that he is encouraged by the numbers so far.