Wehr's Dam Challenges Integrity Of Wildlands Conservancy

Chris Kocher, President of Wildands Conservancy, publicly stated on their website and in a Morning Call editorial that Wildlands Conservancy will certainly respect whatever decision South Whitehall Township makes about the dam’s future. The same pledge was also repeated by their director, Abigail Pattishall, prior to the vote on March 18th. This blogger has learned that there is a back door plan under way to still demolish the dam. Prior to voting on the dam, Commissioner David Bond suggested that perhaps the issue should be turned over to the voters in form of a referendum, because of the expense involved in keeping the dam. Bond voted to save the dam, but only after the yes votes were already in a majority. My sources reveal that Commissioner Christina Morgan, who voted against the dam, and the Wildlands' Pattishall are encouraged by the prospect of a referendum. They know that any question to the voters which increases taxes or expenses always loses.

The entire Wehr Dam study lacked integrity. The million dollar price tag assigned to repair the dam was a blatant scare tactic. Realistically, the repair cost would be only a small fraction of that amount. Unfortunately, this inflated figure has been taken at face value by The Morning Call, and repeated article after article. What Christina Morgan and Abigail Pattishall fail to realize is that unlike their inflated dam study, support for the dam is very real. The thousands of people who signed the petition, while visiting the dam, are very real.

The current Explore issue of South Whitehall Park News fails to mention or honor the dam's retention. Likewise, the Wildlands Conservancy has not acknowledged the decision, and a previous pledge to move on to other projects. Randy Cope, South Whitehall's park director, might be a member in good standing with the Wildlands, but he is failing the citizens of South Whitehall, by ignoring the peoples' wishes to celebrate the dam. Any referendum on the dam,  originated by commissioners, will be a vote against the wishes of the townships' residents.

photograph by K Mary Hess 

above reprinted from April of 2015

ADDENDUM MARCH 10, 2021: The integrity concerning the dam only went downhill since I wrote the above post in 2015.  Although the referendum to keep the dam passed in 2016,  the Wildlands continued their scheme to demolish the dam.  They communicated backchannel with the state DEP about issues with Wehr's, which weren't really relevant in regard to a low hazard dam.  Pennsylvania DEP never met a dam they like, and they publicly boast that Pennsylvania has demolished more dams than any other state. This ex-parte communication has greatly increased the current cost to repair the dam.  Meanwhile, former park director Randy Cope was promoted to Public Works Director, and never defended the dam.  On the contrary,  his father was a Wildlands official, and the Wildlands was given a major contract for work within the park. Although I offered documentation of the situation to the Morning Call, their editor (and local sacred cow protector) refuses to report on the situation. 

I'm taking the unusual step of publicly supporting two candidates in the upcoming Republican primary for commissioner,  Monica Hodges and David Kennedy.  Both of them will respect the voter's wishes on  Wehr's and other township issues.

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