Members of the Rabbit Run Fish and Game Commission — along with area residents — voiced concerns about the impact a possible charter school would have on the recreational area.

Residents expressed worries Tuesday to Tamaqua Borough Council about limited access to the fishing reservoir, traffic to the site and whether enough water would be available to supply the proposed Socrates Science Foundation school.

Rabbit Run is owned by the Borough of Tamaqua but is located off Valley Road in adjoining Walker Township.

Socrates officials recently approached Walker Township with its preliminary plans to lease the borough-owned land; however, it was the first time the topic was addressed at a Tamaqua meeting.

“We have concerns about the charter school,” George Weaver, a Rabbit Run commission member, said.

Weaver referred to a Facebook post from a Socrates official, which noted that if a school is built, no one would be able to fish at the reservoir during school hours.

“And in that case, the state Fish and (Boat) Commission is going to pull (trout) stockings from Rabbit Run. Rabbit Run will never get stocked again,” Weaver said.

It would also mean that the commission, which raises fingerling trout, would lose its cooperative nursery with the state.

Membership would also dwindle, he said, if people have only limited access. Eventually, he feared, the dam would never get stocked again.

“There is nothing in concrete regardless of what you read on Facebook,” council Vice President Ron Bowman said. “No decision has been made of any kind. There are a lot of things that have to be hashed out here.”

Jen Clinton, New Ringgold, representing Socrates charter school, then introduced herself, noting that nothing had been “set in stone.”

She explained that Socrates would lease the land for a free charter school for students studying environmental, agricultural and animal sciences.

She said the main building would be built on the 3 to 4 acres of wooded land closest to Valley Road. Agricultural buildings would be located on the soccer and baseball fields, which are also at the Rabbit Run site.

“There are a lot of things that would need to be ironed out. I am 71 years old and I personally don’t want to see anything happen to Rabbit Run and I don’t believe anyone at this table would want to see anything happen to Rabbit Run,” said Bowman, who presided over the meeting in the absence of council President Brian Connely. “So whatever we need to do as a group to make this either happen in the right manner or not, has to be ironed out.”

The school will meet with the Rabbit Run commission next week.

Walker Township Supervisor Robert Jennings also spoke. He said supervisors already met with Clinton.

“You’re all saying that you aren’t aware of too much about it and it’s at a standstill,” he said.

Jennings said only 5 acres of the land is zoned medium density residential for building. The remainder is zoned “woodland preserved.”

“(The school) plans to put buildings on woodland preserved,” he said.

With an estimated 400 students, Jennings said traffic on Hunter Street in Tamaqua, which leads to Rabbit Run, would increase substantially.

“You might have to make it a one-way street,” he said. “I just wanted you to understand before you make a judgment on it.”

Another Walker Township supervisor, Matt Koch, said the township does not have the water or sewer to support the site.

“There are 400 people, so there are thousands of gallons of septic. We have no sewer out there. We have no water,” he said.

Koch said the decision to lease the land to the school is ultimately the borough’s.

“You are the stepping stone. You are the beginning. Just remember that,” Koch said.

“We understand that it will definitely put a burden on a lot of things,” Bowman said.