Frackville Council conditionally approves release agreement for landfill funds

FRACKVILLE – A vote at Frackville’s borough council meeting this month could open the door to the release of the more than $3 Million in limbo from the wind-up of the North Schuylkill Landfill Association.

Borough Council voted Thursday night to conditionally approve a mutual general release and settlement agreement circulated last September.

Solicitor Mark Semanchik said the approval is conditional upon a full accounting of the total funds available and the resolution of the borough’s “prior issues related to the distribution of the landfill closure bond funds.”

Several area municipalities approved the agreement in late 2024 and early 2025.

East Union Township approved the agreement in January. At the time, Shenandoah Borough Council said they had only received a letter from Frackville regarding issues related to the landfill’s wind-up.

In November, multiple Ringtown Valley municipalities said Frackville was putting up a roadblock to the wind-up of the association.

For some members, like Union Township and Gilberton Borough, $200,000 is a massive amount compared to their budget, Ringtown and Union Township solicitor Robert Matta said at the time.

There are 17 member municipalities: Delano Township, East Union Township, Frackville, Gilberton, Girardville, Mahanoy City, Mahanoy Township, Ringtown, Rush Township, Ryan Township, Shenandoah, Union Township, West Mahanoy Township, McAdoo, Ashland, Gordon, and Butler Township.

One issue leading to the impasse was the charter status of four municipalities — McAdoo, Ashland, Gordon, and Butler Township. Though they had been previously designated as “non-charter” municipalities, NSLA President and Union Township Supervisor Dave Briggs told the Sentinel this week that they are now considered charter municipalities.

Briggs and the NSLA’s officers contend that a vote took place to distribute the remaining funds evenly to each member municipality.

In a statement provided to the Sentinel last month, the NSLA officers said the association “agrees to not distribute any money at this time until all municipalities agree to equal shares,” the statement reads. “The money sat in the bank for 34 years, so it can sit in the bank for another 34 years.”

Coal Region Canary contributed to this report.

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