JACKSON – A township resident expressed concerns about what he believes is an illegal gas line in his neighborhood but officials couldn’t answer all his questions due to potential legal implications.
Joe Krakowski of Mill Pond Road was candid when he spoke to the governing body during the public comment period of a recent Township Council meeting stating his belief that an illegal gas line was operating on his block.
He referenced a recent fire at Toshi Court and remarked, “I hope everyone is okay. I hope it wasn’t started by illegal construction like the one at a house I reported on several times to the building department and there was no action taken until after the fire.
“Then afterwards the big red sticker went up. Needless to say, the neighbor next to me installed an illegal gas line which I spoke to Mr. (Business Administrator Terence) Wall about. I contacted the building department. I must have left three messages, e-mails, and no response for a week,” the resident said.
Krakowski said he finally received a call back. “I was so infuriated that it was just ignored. A gas line is a critical item and the house is empty so this gentleman is there in the evening installing a gas line. I heard all the commotion over there so I looked over and saw what he was doing.
“This is not cool at all because if he created a leak in that house, no one was in that house, for four or five days, no one would smell it,” the resident said. He added that he was told by the building department that no one could be permitted on the property to investigate it.
“Is that true?” he asked. “You can’t go on the property for anything?”
Council President Martin Flemming said evidence would be required. “Probable cause.”
“I watched the whole thing,” Krakowski said. He added that a person from the building department was present “but they never got out of the truck and they still haven’t done anything as far as I know. Has there been any follow up to that? Do you know anything?” he asked Wall and the members of the governing body.
“I very much appreciate your coming up and sharing your thoughts with the governing body but it wouldn’t be appropriate for me in public to comment on that case,” Wall said.
“(Jackson Mayor) Mike (Reina) said this is where you come to get answers and I’m not getting any answers,” Krakowski said.
Wall responded, “I appreciate that but you are invoking some things that I would be referring over to the Township Attorney (Gregory McGuckin) for his commentary.”
“For an illegal gas line?” the resident exclaimed.
“This is a public comment period and it is very much appropriate but when items may have a legal implication, I need to refer to the township attorney. If he has any comments he can share them here,” Wall replied.
McGuckin did not offer any comments on the matter.
The resident responded to a question by Flemming that “this is in the back yard for a grill but tied into the house though obviously because you have to get gas from somewhere. It doesn’t come from the yard. I was concerned. I don’t know who this guy is. Is he a plumber or what he is? He is a fly by night who comes 4:30-5 o’clock in the afternoon but it didn’t blow up so I guess everything is fine.”
He also asked the governing body about a Zoning Board meeting he attended a few weeks ago that concerned a power plant operation at Adventure Crossing.
“I’m an electrician. The owner of the development had said that First Energy doesn’t have enough power to hook him up to the system. He said he was in negotiations but I don’t know how you can negotiate something that isn’t there?”
He also wanted to know whether the Zoning Board knows or checks if proposed buildings can be connected to the power grid and if there is sufficient power to be added to it.
“You get approvals further down the line,” Flemming said, noting that initial approvals are evaluated first.
Krakowski said, “it just didn’t make sense to me that you would put a power plant in a place where people are going to congregate. It seems like a really bad idea. I know it is a small one – nine or 10 megawatts – and then they are going to have solar but I was worried about future ones like Jackson Parke North and South.
“Those circuits over there are very minimal and there is not much to be had over there. I think it should be a concern though,” Krakowski said.
He added, “ultimately, the power company is going to say they need to run new lines down there along this road and that road because we don’t have enough amperage to supply all these developments and the developer gets off free and then what they do is go before the Board and ask for an increase in rates.”
“To me it is very critical and should be one of the first things on the agenda to determine if we have enough electricity to be supplied,” he added.
