Kidder Township approved PennEast Pipeline compressor station plans, and ends year with tax increase and police force layoff.

During the early months of 2017, Kidder Township was host to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection for a series of public hearings on the proposed single compressor station that will service the PennEast Pipeline, if it wins approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

The compressor station, which was recommended for approval by the Kidder Township Planning Commission, received a conditional approval from the supervisors in September.

In February the township officials praised the township’s Riverkeepers for spending the last three years collecting data on the creeks and streams which run through the township. The data will be used to determine if construction of the pipeline, should it be approved, is impacting the township’s waterways.

In May, the supervisors voted against supporting the Nature Conservancy’s request for support in having the Tunkhannock Watershed redesignated from “high-quality” to “exceptional value.”

The township has also begun work on a hike and bike trail, which will begin at the township building.

A committee has been formed to undertake fundraising for the construction and maintenance of the trail. The township applied for a $250,000 Greenways Trail grant in August.

The township closed out the year by approving a 1.3-mill tax increase and approving the layoff of one patrolman from the police department.

In January, Chairman Thomas Bradley Jr., who won re-election in November, will be sworn in alongside former Chairman Larry Polansky, who was elected to fill the seat left vacant by Supervisor Frank Pieri.