The battle over the future of the construction of a new school complex for Montgomery Area junior and senior high school students heated up recently as the school board filed a lawsuit against Clinton Township for allegedly throwing what it considers repeated roadblocks in the project.

In late 2021, the decision was made to pursue the construction of a new junior/senior high school at the current site of the Montgomery Area Athletic & Community Center (MAACC), 537 Old Road.

The cost of the project would be lower than the total renovations on the existing school, with an original goal of a 2025-2026 inaugural school year, according to district officials.

However, during the approval process by the Clinton Township Board of Supervisors, a total of 15 conditional requirements were put upon the project when the plan was approved on Aug. 30, six of which were challenged in court by the school district.

The challenged requirements included township directives that the district widen Old Road to 20 feet from Route 54 to Black Creek Road, that street lights be installed on one side of the widened road, the construction of a sidewalk on one side of Old Road and the addition of a traffic light at Route 54 and Old Road.

In a ruling, presiding Lycoming County Court of Common Pleas Judge William Carlucci found that the six conditions are “not supported by substantial evidence and therefore constitutes an abuse of discretion.”

Additionally, the township committed an error of law when requiring the roadway changes, as “the property does not directly abut the intersection of Route 54 and Old Road,” rendering those improvements “off-site,” Carlucci’s ruling said.

A motion for reconsideration filed by the township three days later was denied by the judge, after which an appeal to the Commonwealth Court was filed, according to court documents.

A motion to stay the decision, pending the appeal, was also denied.

Despite Carlucci’s ruling, on July 16, the township Planning Commission recommended that the Board of Supervisors deny the plan, according to the district’s lawsuit, which was filed in September by Thomas C. Marshall, Esq. and Noah F. Roux, Esq. on behalf of the district.

No specific reason for the denial was given, save for the aforementioned appeal, according to court filings.

“During the course of the planning commission meeting, members did not indicate that there was a deficiency with the plans or any additional engineer comments that were not resolved by MASD,” at the July 16 meeting, a copy of the lawsuit said.

The board ultimately voted to deny the plan on Aug. 16, citing their continued concerns surrounding the intersection of Old Road and Route 54, though the notice of denial received by the district made no mention of this issue, according to the lawsuit.

The plan failed to adhere to certain requirements of the township zoning ordinance, according to the notice of denial, however the district pointed out in court filings that only informal recommendations were made by PennDot to the district and the township for minor improvements that could be made to the intersection, the court filings said.

“The township has failed to provide MASD with sufficient specificity regarding what ordinance provisions, if any, MASD has failed to satisfy,” the district said in the lawsuit, citing Carlucci’s dismissal of the previously imposed requirements related to the intersection.

Additionally, the notice of denial states that the denial is due to the failure of the plan to incorporate improvements proposed by the district, however the lawsuit stressed that these were recommendations of PennDot, not of the district and that no agreement to incorporate the improvements was made.

“The township’s denial of the plans constitutes an abuse of discretion and/or an error of law,” the lawsuit stated.

The suit also includes a count of Mandamus in which the district is seeking $137,000.00 for each month the plan has been delayed, as well as attorney’s fees, due to the township’s “delay tactics and its improper denial of the plans,” the court filing said.

“The township, including its supervisors and members of the planning commission, have sought to delay the completion of the project in the hopes that appellant will cease the project,” the district alleges in the lawsuit, accusing them of being inconsistent in their verbally communicated conditions of approval.

Both township supervisors and planning commission members have acted inappropriately at meetings where the plans have been discussed, the district said in filings.

The members have been aggressive towards district officials, at times, yelling at them, making baseless accusations and failing to provide consistent guidance by which the plan would be approved, the suit said.

Contacted by the Sun-Gazette, the school board offered no comment, pending the legal action.

Calls and emails to the Clinton Township Board of Supervisors by the Sun-Gazette were not returned.