Venango County commissioners will decide whether they will enact an impact fee on deep gas wells within the county’s borders at their April 10 meeting.
When Act 13, the bill providing for the impact fee, was signed into law last month by Gov. Tom Corbett, all three commissioners expressed some reservations about the legislation.
They planned to vote on the matter at their March meeting, but delayed that decision in order to gather the input of government officials from the county’s 31 municipalities.
All three commissioners — chairman Timothy Brooks, Vincent Witherup and Bonnie Summers — attended a meeting of the Oil Region Council of Governments on the topic earlier this month, and so far 10 municipalities have responded to a memo from the county seeking to learn their opinion on the matter.
Those responding include Oakland, Cornplanter, Canal, Mineral, Cranberry, and Oil Creek townships and Rouseville, Sugarcreek and Barkeyville boroughs, chief clerk and county administrator Denise Jones said.
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