Carbon County officials are questioning the specifics of an ordinance that the state is asking counties to adopt.

During the county commissioners' meeting on Thursday, the board of commissioners voted to authorize the advertising of a proposed unconventional gas well fee.The new law provides counties with the power to impose flat fee on a Marcellus Shale well.Commissioner William O'Gurek, questioned the fee, asking if the county would benefit from adopting this ordinance even though it does not have any Marcellus Shale wells in the county.County solicitor Daniel Miscavige said that the county will not receive any portion of the funding that is designated for counties that have wells in the county, but if it is not adopted, then the county may lose out on funding from additional monies that the new fees have designated for rural areas.O'Gurek said that he is not against the ordinance, but rather he feels the impact fee bill, which was passed into law in February, "falls short of Pennsylvania's responsibility to protect our water.""I just have a problem with the people who are sitting in Harrisburg making those decisions and failing to put the proper regulations in place to control the extracting business," he said. "In my opinion Pennsylvania had the chance to impose a natural gas severance tax, which could have generated as much as $500 million for the state that could have solved a lot of problems. The impact fee, I don't understand it. I think a severance tax is what Harrisburg should have did. Tax the drillers and take that money and put it in a fund to ensure that someone would be responsible for clean water and air."It's a missed chance that the legislature had to do something good. Instead we act on the side of big business, protect them and let millions of dollars slip through the hands of the state where we need it like Children and Youth, Mental Health and Developmental Services and education. All those things we're falling short on funding as Pennsylvanians and yet they sit out there and give counties the responsibilities to implement a tax that they (the state) is going to be in charge of," he added. "Harrisburg didn't have the guts to tax the drillers. That's the part of it that hurts."Commissioner Thomas J. Gerhard said he agreed with O'Gurek's thoughts.O'Gurek added that the fee that will be imposed on counties will be determined, collected and administered by the state.There will be nine state agencies that will benefit from the fee, including the conservation districts, state Fish and Boat Commission, Public Utilities Commission, Department of Environmental Protection, Fire Commissioners Office, PennDOT, energy development and housing affordability and rehabilitation. Sixty percent of the funds have also been earmarked for counties with Marcellus Shale wells in production on their lands. The remaining 40 percent will go to non-Marcellus Shale related projects in the state.Commissioner Wayne Nothstein, chairman, said that he hopes the conservation districts do receive more funding from the state because right now, it is the county's responsibility to staff and contribute $243,000 for operations of the Carbon County Conservation District. The state currently pays $30,000 toward the state agency."I think the counties should have more input on this," he added.The county will now advertise the ordinance and will adopt it at a commissioners' meeting later this month.In other matters, O'Gurek recognized Margaret Kozuch for her service to the Carbon County Parks and Recreation Commission.Kozuch, 93, who was a longtime resident of Summit Hill, submitted her resignation Thursday after 26 years of service."She's a wonderful, wonderful lady," O'Gurek said. "Not only for what she did for the county, but also for her town, her community, her church and her family. She's a real tribute to Carbon County."Nothstein said the county will adopt a resolution honoring Kozuch for her service at a later time.O'Gurek added that Kozuch is one of three people in their 90s who is serving on county boards. In addition to Kozuch, Franklin Hodel, 93, serves on the Parks and Recreation Board and Bernice Snyder, 98, serves on the Redevelopment Authority."These are amazing people and it's a tribute, not only to their longevity, but their dedication," O'Gurek said.