Next Meeting
Our next meeting will be held on May 29th at 7:00 PM at Bell School.
Steering Committee Meets with Attorney
The steering committee met with the coalition's attorney, Christopher Denton, on Friday, May 9th. Mr. Denton explained what the next sequence of events will be:
1. At our May 29th meeting with the full coalition, we will receive a questionaire inquiring about how each property owner wants their leases tailored.
2. Mr. Denton's office will start meeting with members after June 1st to consider their lease.
Horizontal Drilling - Assembly Bill #10526
There was much discussion about horizontal well drilling and the bill that is currently in the assembly. Horizontal drilling is a very important issue to both the gas companies and land owners. A representative from Assemblyman Crouch's office indicated the bill may pass in the Assembly by the end of June. A representative from Senator Libous' office told us the Senator is co-sponsoring the same bill in the Senate. We need to stay on top of the progress of both of these bills. You can contact Assemblyman Clifford Crouch at 648-6080 or by email at crouchc@assembly.state.ny.us, and Senator Thomas Libous at 773-8771 or visit his website at www.tomlibous.com. Senator Libous' email address will be posted in the near future.
Time Table
At the meeting on April 24th the full coalition felt we should take our time, be patient and wait for the horizontal bill to be signed by the Governor (hopefully by the end of June). We should have most of our members signed up when we meet on May 29th at 7:00 PM.
Contact Your Neighbors
Contact your neighbors and ask them if they are interested in signing up and participating in the gas lease coalition. If they don't have access to the internet, you might consider assisting them.
Progress
We have made great progress in a short time and we currently have approximately 8,457 acres in the coalition. Time seems to be on our side as sign-on bonuses and royalties keep increasing.
I met with the chairmen of the Windsor, Town of Binghamton/Conklin and Vestal coalitions next Thursday to discuss the events of their most recent meetings.
Marchie
Review of Previous Information:
Steering Committee Selected
At a meeting held on Thursday, April 10, 2008 the coalition elected to have Marchie Diffendorf remain as Chairman. The following volunteered to serve on the Steering Committee: Ward Coe, Ben Weingartner, Ken Honnick, Jack Diffendorf, and Gary Brodbeck.
Steering Committees from Kirkwood, Conklin/Town of Binghamton, Vestal and Windsor will interview attorney Gordon Thompson on Wednesday, April 16th, and attorney Chris Denton on Thursday, April 17th. The Committees will make a recommendation and present it to their coalitions. The coalitions will then decide to accept or reject the Steering Committees' recommendation.
We are still encouraging Kirkwood property owners to join our coalition. You can do so three ways:
Call: Marchie Diffendorf at 775-3128
email: marchiediff@yahoo.com
U.S.Mail: Marchie Diffendorf
483 Gorman Rd.
Kirkwood, NY 13795
Please provide the following information: Name
Address
Phone Number
Number of Acres
Tax Map Number/Numbers
Whether you are currently leased
If you own property in Conklin or the Town of Binghamton you can obtain more information by going to www.nygaslease.com.
If you own property in Windsor or Colesville, you can obtain more information by going to www.windsorny.org.
Currently only vertical wells are permitted in these shales. The unit size for vertical wells is 40 acres; horizontal wells can be much larger units and would allow for drilling under roads, wetlands, parks and forrested lands. This also would mean fewer drilling sites.
By joining the coalition you are not committed to any agreements the coalition may sign in the future. We appreciate your participation with the hopes of securing the best possible lease that will meet the needs of all our members.
I would like to thank the Town of Kirkwood for the use of their website.
Marchie