Cecil Township Supervisors and Range Resources Reschedule Public Workshop

A workshop session between the Cecil Township Board of Supervisors and Range Resources that was previously canceled has been rescheduled.

Township Manager Don Gennuso said Friday that the public meeting—at which no formal action will be taken—will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 6 in the municipal building.

A public notice will appear in the Observer-Reporter newspaper and on the township website Monday, he said.

What isn’t known?

“I’m not aware of the context of the meeting,” Gennuso said. “I have not been given an agenda by Range Resources.”

It was also unclear whether public comment would be taken during the workshop.

Gennuso said that while it has been past practice for the supervisors to take comments from audience members during other work sessions, that’s all the township could control.

“What we cannot control is whether Range will respond to questions from the public,” he said, adding that its presentation is intended for the board.

A previous meeting between the board and the Southpointe-based company had been intended to discuss their working relationship and how the pair could “move forward in a positive direction,” the township manager said.

However, that session was canceled by Range the night the meeting was to take place because state Rep. Jesse White, D-Cecil, had posted information about it on his Facebook page, according to the Observer-Reporter newspaper.

Gennuso said that while White had not come up in discussions regarding the rescheduled meeting, that the legislator was “more than welcome to attend”—just as every resident is.

Reached for comment Friday, White said he plans on attending "and will continue my practice of utilizing social media to inform the public about this public meeting.”

And he said he urges Range Resources and Cecil Township officials to provide the public “with a clear and detailed agenda of the issues to be discussed in advance so we can have an orderly, fact-based and positive discussion about the issues facing our communities, hopefully with Range answering questions from the public.”

White continued: “Allowing public comment on sometimes-contentious issues is a cornerstone to building accountability, and like many residents, I look forward to listening to a real discussion instead of the same one-sided talking points we've heard for years.”

And he said he wanted to be clear: “I have no intention of creating a distraction of any kind, but I hope this isn't just a dog-and-pony show with no substance and no real answers. The public deserves better.”

Range Resources spokesman Jim Cannon could not be reached on his cell phone Friday afternoon.