There are NO property size restrictions to join the Kirkwood Gas Coalition
The coalition steering committee continually hears stories about property owners who either feel their property is too small to get involved OR the property owner does not want to get involved with the gas companies. We understand, but the truth is that eventually the gas companies will have enough leased property to drill for the gas. They will form a gas unit and if you own property in the "gas unit", you as the property owner will eventually be involved. It does not matter what the property size is. The property size may be as small as an acre to a portion of an acre. Our lease protects your property by including your tailoring clause which you may customize by not allowing any surface rights.
To participate in the coalition, simply pick up a questionnaire from the Kirkwood Town Hall and return it there as well. Before you make the decision to not be involved, please consider at least filling out the questionnaire and you will have the opportunity to speak with the attorney (at no charge), ask questions, review OUR lease and get informed. The Kirkwood Gas Coalition encourages ALL property owners to get involved, so you are not on your own to deal with the gas companies. Thank you.
Cut-Off Date
The Steering Committee has decided that October 15th will be the cut-off date for people to join the Kirkwood Gas Coalition. This will be your last opportunity to join! This cut-off date will help us prepare for bidding and negotiations. If you are interested in joining the coalition, please review the information that follows.
Questionnaires
Questionnaires are still available at the Kirkwood Town Clerk's Office from 9AM Monday thru Friday (Closed for lunch from 1PM to 2PM). Or send email request to gayle@townofkirkwood.org with the subject line "Gas Coalition Questionnaire" and a copy of the form will be emailed to you. If you are interested in participating in the coalition, please complete the questionnaire and return as soon as possible to:
Kirkwood Town Clerk, 70 Crescent Dr., Kirkwood, NY 13795 or
FAX: (607) 775-5934
Interviews
We have made very good progress in completing our interviews. Attorney Denton's office will be interviewing members that live out of town and are unable to attend in person via phone calls.
If you have not been contacted by Attorney Denton or by Chairman Marchie Diffendorf, there may be a problem with you phone number. Please email your phone number or email address to marchiediff@yahoo.com.
Pipeline Easements and Seismic Testing
Attorney Denton advises all members not to allow any pipeline easements or seismic testing on your property or on the town roads along your property. In many cases you own to the center of the road. Any seismic testing on these roads may be considered trespassing. If you are approached for pipeliine easements and/or seismic testing, contact Attorney Denton at (607) 734-0661. These issues will be addressed in the lease being prepared by the attorney for the coalition.
Letter to Kirkwood Landowners
In a final effort to encourage Kirkwood landowners that have not joined the Kirkwood Gas Coalition to join, the following letter will be sent:
Dear Kirkwood Landowner,
We are contacting you in an effort to inform you about the Kirkwood Gas Coalition. Last winter gas companies approached many landowners in regard to leasing their property for the mineral rights. In most cases we were uneducated and vulnerable to the offers received from the landmen of the gas companies to sign a lease for much less than it was worth. In response to this activity we formed the Kirkwood Gas Coalition and encouraged all landowners in Kirkwood to participate. We have signed up about 10,000 acres with 350 property owners.
Our coalition has engaged the services of attorney Christopher Denton and his team, Don Zaengle - Sedimentary Geologist, Bob Williams - Environmental Scientist, and CPA James Leonard.
We are continuing to reach out to all landowners (no minimum acreage required) in a final effort to encourage you to join the coalition. The best way to maximize the financial benefit for all landowners, allow the gas companies to drill, build pipelines to get the gas to market, and to ensure environmental protection, is to build a coalition consisting of many contiguous acres. You are not required to allow any gas activities on the surface of your property. The lease agreement would allow the gas companies to capture oil and gas from under your property using horizontal drilling techniques.
After several meetings and many hours of volunteer work, we are preparing to set a cut-off date to accept membership into the coalition. If you wish to consider joining the coalition with your friends and neighbors, we have enclosed a questionnaire for you to complete and submit to the Kirkwood Town Clerk at:
70 Crescent Dr., Kirkwood, NY 13795
or FAX to: (607) 775-5934
Before you make a decision, complete the questionnaire, meet with the attorney (at no cost), address your concerns and review the lease. You only pay the attorney’s fee of $20.00 per acre after the coalition’s steering committee recommends the lease agreement to the coalition members for approval and you receive a check from the gas company that is awarded the bid.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact one of the members of the coalition’s steering committee:
Chairman, Marchie Diffendorf (607) 775-3128
Co-Chairman, Gary Brodbeck (607) 775-4908
Ben Weingartner (607) 775-3155
Ward Coe (607) 775-1435
Jack Diffendorf (607) 775-1249
Ken Honnick (607) 775-1020
The Kirkwood Coalition's number one goal is to protect our environment. The best way to protect your well water, ground water and the environment is to join Kirkwood's Gas Coalition. The Coalition's lease will be environmental and owner friendly and the Coalition will only negotiate with gas companies that have the same goal.
Attorney Chris Denton has informed the Steering Committee that he is very encouraged to see the serious interest in Kirkwood expressed by the gas companies. He sent our map with the high-lighted properties to a number of companies and they liked what they saw. Our coalition has many contiguous acres, and the geological reports are more convincing that we are in the core of the Marcellus Shale. If we stick together and be patient the Steering Committee believes we will all benefit.
Marchie Diffendorf, Coalition Chairman
Review of Previous Information
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.
Steering Committee Selected - April 2008
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.
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.
To contact the Tioga Coiunty Landowners Group go to www.tiogagaslease.org.
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.
For additional general gas drilling information go to: www.windsorny.org or www.pressconnects.com.
Marchie