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Their view: It’s already clear who the Democratic presidential nominee will be in 2020

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Wyoming Valley West High School honors February Students of the Month

<p>Approximately $45,000 must be collected to initiate a legal battle contesting a controversial new stormwater fee, according to Lehman Township resident Marian DeAngelis, who is organizing the effort.</p><p>DeAngelis said she arranged for attorney Margaret M. Witherup, a member of the Baltimore-based law firm Gordon Feinblatt Inc., to handle a group legal action because Witherup was involved in challenging a stormwater fee in Maryland and is familiar with this region as a Bloomsburg native.</p><p>&#8220;She cut down her base rate to do us a favor,&#8221; DeAngelis said.</p><p>While the specific arguments and structure of the legal action are still being researched and developed, some written details will be presented to interested fee payers Thursday, along with information on how they can sign up and donate, DeAngelis said.</p><p>Fee payers who want to learn more are invited to visit the Jackson Township Fire Hall at 1160 Chase Road in Shavertown any time between 6 and 8 p.m., she said. DeAngelis and others involved in the effort will be on hand to distribute the information, noting there won&#8217;t be a group presentation.</p><p>Many fee payers have come forward saying they &#8220;feel helpless,&#8221; she said.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re giving them a chance to have their voices heard,&#8221; said DeAngelis of legal action.</p><p><strong>Repealed in Maryland</strong></p><p>At this point, the challenge would focus on fee payers in municipalities that opted to participate in the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority&#8217;s regional compliance plan.</p><p>The authority imposed the fee to fund projects that bring participating municipalities in compliance with a federal pollution reduction mandate so they won&#8217;t face fines.</p><p>Municipalities in the regional program have municipal separate storm sewer system, or MS4, permits requiring them to meet specific percentage targets lowering sediment, nitrogen and phosphorus washed into the Susquehanna River and ultimately the Chesapeake Bay over the next five years.</p><p>Residents of Back Mountain communities participating in the Dallas Area Municipal Authority&#8217;s regional stormwater fee as well as Lackawanna County residents have reached out to DeAngelis, she said. While non-Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority stormwater payers are welcome to obtain information at Thursday&#8217;s session, she is not yet sure if they would be included in a challenge.</p><p>DeAngelis initially got involved in questioning the stormwater fee largely because of the additional high burden it would place on farmers, who already are forced to pay more to comply with another agricultural pollution reduction mandate, she said. Churches already struggling to cover expenses also are hurt by the fee, she said.</p><p>Her ideal result would be litigation that forces the state to fund the pollution reduction mandate, although it is premature to say if that will be the remedy sought.</p><p>In Maryland, where Witherup is based, the state had required counties subject to MS4 permits to impose stormwater fees to fulfill the pollution reduction mandate. The state repealed the fee requirement in 2015, leaving it up to impacted counties to decide how they wanted to pay for compliance. Some kept their fees, and others funded work through real estate taxes or other means, according to published reports.</p><p>Pennsylvania left it up to municipalities to decide how they want to fund compliance. Supporters of the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority regional plan have argued it is more cost efficient and prevents significant rises in municipal real estate taxes.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_TTL011119Stormwater4.jpeg">
<div class="neCaption">Lehman Township resident Marian DeAngelis, photographed during a stormwater fee session she coordinated in January, has organized an effort to seek donations to challenge the controversial fee. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/web1_TTL011119Stormwater4.jpeg</photo0><caption0>Lehman Township resident Marian DeAngelis, photographed during a stormwater fee session she coordinated in January, has organized an effort to seek donations to challenge the controversial fee. </caption0><photoCredit0>File photo </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jennifer Learn-Andes</p><p>jandes@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Lehman Twp. resident trying to raise $45K to challenge stormwater fee