Heads of the police and fire departments of East Union Township testified in opposition of construction of a cargo airport in the township as hearings reconvened Thursday evening at the Schuylkill County Courthouse before the Schuylkill County Zoning Board.

The hearing is being held on the application of Gladstone Partnership, LLC, of Pittsburgh, seeking a special exception to the county zoning ordinance to construct the cargo airport on a large tract of land in the township.The concerns of Police Chief Anthony Harris, Fire Marshall Robert Gabardi, and Fire Chief Kyle Mummy, dealt with great concerns of increased crime, traffic, accidents and fires which the small township could not deal with because of small staffs and economic reasons.Harris, the only full time officer who also serves as the zoning officer, code enforcement officer, and on the planning commission, said he has attended all the hearings to date and still does not know many things on the proposed plan, specifically where the access road is to be built or the extent of the development of the airport."Our resources are limited," Harris testified, "We have no jail, must transport prisoners to the county prison in Pottsville, are population is around 1,200 and the township consists of 25 square miles.""Another great concern is the safety of our citizens," he said. He added, "We average 2,000 calls a year, some can be resolved over the telephone."Previous testimony was traffic would increase by 69,000 vehicles per day. "We do not have the manpower for such an increase," Harris said.Gabardi said he is a trustee of the Sheppton-Oneida Fire Company, the only one in the township and also serves as a code enforcement officer and serves on the industrial board. He testified the township has between 25 and 30 volunteer firemen, has one engine and one tank truck and responses on an average of 225 to 250 calls a year.He also testified that the major highway is SR924 which was to be a four lane but was never developed and remains a two lane. He the great increase in traffic would cause a great burden on the small fire company to respond to accidents and fires."We could not handle a fire at the airport of a plane accident," he pointed out. He added, "We do not know what height buildings the plan as we have no ladder truck." He added, "I understand some of these planes landing will have wing spans longer than a football field and one could fall in our village and wipe it out."Mummey reiterated Gabardi's concerns and added his concern was the number of firemen volunteers was dwindling and at times the response has been with fire firemen. He said the firemen get their call through pagers as no one is stationed at the firehouse. He was critical of Gladstone for not meeting with the township officials to discuss emergency procedures before making the application.Also opposing the airport is Service Electric Cable Television, which provides cable television to the area.They plan to present expert witnesses at the next session to be held March 1. The company has its main base at 18 Maple Drive, Hazle Township, and has a tower on Bear Head Mountain in Delano.At its site in Hazle Township it has 10 satellite dishes pointing skyward to draw in signals which are relayed through microwave dishes to customers and fear interference by planes could greatly hurt their operation.