Kelli Hoover and David Hughes, Nittany Valley Water Coalition representatives, received the following email today from Kurt Kissinger, Associate Vice President for Finance and Business at corporate Penn State.
Kelli and David,
Thank you for taking the time to meet with us before the July 4th holiday to discuss your concerns regarding the Toll Brothers planned residential development on Whitehall Road. I understand that Charima has scheduled a meeting with representatives of Toll Brothers in the next couple of weeks. I look forward to participating in the discussion.
As a follow-up to our discussion regarding the presence of protestors at the site, we appreciate your concern for the health, safety and well-being of all concerned, in addition to the adherence to relevant University policy and local ordinances. As we discussed, the protestors camping at the Whitehall property are in direct violation of University Policy AD 57, which prohibits camping on University property except in those areas designated by the Office of Physical Plant or other administrative unit of the University. Also, the University previously received a determination from Ferguson Township that camping on University property at another location in the township is not permitted. Accordingly, we kindly ask that camping on Penn State owned land on Whitehall Road cease immediately.
Furthermore, since our meeting we received the attached notification letter from Ferguson Township citing potential violation of the Township’s Sign Ordinance at the site. The University has 30 days to comply with the stated notice. Since the University has not granted its permission for the placing of signs, we kindly ask that you remove the signs immediately.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we will be notifying the protestors at the Whitehall Road property that they are trespassing. The area where the protest is occurring is not open to the public. The protesters’ presence on the site violates University policy and has not been consented to by Penn State.
Thank you for our cooperation, and I look forward to meeting with you again soon.
Best wishes,
Kurt
Kurt A. Kissinger, MPIA
Associate Vice President for Finance and Business
The Pennsylvania State University/Finance and Business/208 Old Main/University Park, PA 16802
Tel: 814-865-6574/ kak47@psu.edu/www.fandb.psu.edu
Kissinger attached the following notice from Ferguson Township Zoning Administrator Jeffrey Ressler, dated June 28 and stamped received by David Gray, Vice President for Finance and Business, on July 3.
6.28.17 Ferguson Twp Letter re Sign Ordinance Violations
Within a very short time, Penn State Office of Physical Plant employees drove up to the Whitehall Road/Blue Course Drive site and pounded two new notices into the ground.
Photo above.
More context as to why Penn State may be escalating in this way, at this time, to follow.
Also of note, as the above was happening this afternoon, the Penn State Board of Trustees committees were meeting in Harrisburg, and Ferguson Township Supervisor Laura Dininni was in executive session with the rest of the Ferguson Board of Supervisors, who are apparently attempting to remove her from the office to which Ferguson voters elected her, or otherwise discipline her, because her fierce advocacy for her constituents and community water and farmland makes other members of the board uncomfortable.
Posted by KW