Range Resources could acquire South Fayette school drilling lease
Share with others:
South Fayette school officials are considering whether to allow natural gas firm Range Resources to take over a lease for drilling underneath the 207-acre Old Oakdale Road campus.
Fred Wolfe, the school district's attorney, said Tuesday night that driller Chesapeake Energy is asking for permission to reassign the school's subsurface drilling lease to Range Resources.
The school board must decide whether or not to approve the transfer, he said. Either way, the district would get to keep a $414,000 upfront payment it had received for signing the lease, he said.
"I suspect Chesapeake probably isn't planning to do much" drilling in the region in the near future, Mr. Wolfe said.
Board members planned to discuss the issue further at their Feb. 21 committee meeting.
The school board also approved a $39 million preliminary budget for the 2012-2013 school year that would raise taxes by nearly 1 mill.
The vote was 7-1, with Todd Petrillo against and Frank Morelli absent.
Three proposed increases totaling 0.9982 mills -- for general expenses, retirement contributions and special education expenses -- would generate $872,610 for the school district.
A final budget is due in June.
First Published January 25, 2012 12:00 am
