In a letter to Penn Forest Township Zoning Hearing Board solicitor Matthew Rapa, Atlantic Wind has refused to attend any additional hearings into its application to build 37 wind turbines in the township until a safer venue can be provided.

The letter was received on Friday and stated that the applicant would not be in attendance at Tuesday’s meeting.The meeting was called to order Tuesday night and zoning hearing board Chairwoman Audrey Wargo informed the crowd that the proceeding would be stayed pending action being undertaken by the applicant.Atlantic Wind attorney Debra Shulski explained in the letter that following the May 12 hearing before the board, Shulski had informed the board and the Pennsylvania State Police of the applicant’s safety concerns after threats were made to the family of one of the applicant’s employees.The state police informed Atlantic Wind that it was unable to provide security for the hearings. As a result, Atlantic Wind provided private security for the last four hearings.During the meeting on Aug. 25, there were a number of unruly outbursts, which were directed at Shulski.Wargo had to stop the meeting at one point and threatened to remove a resident.Following the outburst, Bruce Anders, attorney for the opponents, addressed the audience and admonished them for the disrespectful behavior.“You are not helping your cause when you act like this,” Anders said. “You are disrespecting the board and the stenographer, and are doing nothing to help.”At that hearing, when Shulski attempted to question Anders’ client, A. Christopher Mangold, about the threats against the employee, Anders angrily demanded she stop the line of questioning.According to Shulski, in the aftermath of the last hearing, the threats on a number of Facebook pages have increased.“Posts on Facebook have exploded since the time of the last hearing and we have been made aware of Facebook posts as recent as yesterday about the public bringing firearms to the upcoming meetings,” Shulski wrote. “Even more disturbing, posts have specifically referenced the Ross Township shooting and have seemingly defended the assailant’s actions as somehow being understandable for defending his property rights.”Shulski also said in her letter that the firm’s videographer, who attended the Aug. 25 meeting, has refused to return because he feared for his safety.According to Shulski, the videographer claimed to have seen residents attempting to bring firearms into that meeting.In its letter, the applicant states that it is planning to file a motion in the Carbon County Court of Common Pleas to appoint an independent hearing officer in place of the current zoning hearing board.In addition, the motion will request that the venue for the hearings be moved to the county courthouse in Jim Thorpe.In her letter, Shulski also asks the zoning hearing board to “stipulate that it is in agreement that the matter should be moved to a safe and secure venue and agree to relinquish its jurisdiction to an independent hearing officer. …”At Tuesday’s truncated hearing, Wargo made it clear that she and the other members of the hearing board had no intention of voluntarily stepping down and relinquishing their jurisdiction.“We are in agreement that we intend to see this thing through,” Wargo said. “We have all invested a lot of time and energy and we are committed to the process.”According to Rapa, nothing has been filed with the court as of Tuesday.“We will be granting a stay to give Atlantic Wind time to sort this out,” said Rapa. “If they are unsuccessful with their actions we will be back here, if the firehouse will have us.”Both Rapa and Wargo told residents that future hearing dates will be advertised in the Times News and the township website when they are available.