With the word transparency being tossed back and forth in the ongoing dispute in Muncy Township over plans for The District the latest volley comes from FAMvest, developers of the project, who along with the Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce (WLCC) have announced a public open house from 2 to 3 p.m. Sunday in the former Best Buy location.

The purpose stated for the event is to share with the general public details on the redevelopment planned for the former Lycoming Mall site in the township.

According to a news release from the developers, representatives of FAMvest will be at the meeting “to speak about the businesses that they have committed to being there including Bass Pro Shop. They will have available for viewing the Bass Pro Shop final subdivision plan awaiting signature from the supervisors along with the Land Development Plan that has been submitted to Muncy Township for review. The land development plan will show details such as the building size and scale for the Bass Pro Shop along with associated signage.”

According to Jason Fink, president and CEO of WLCC, the size of the Bass Pro Shop project has grown from 60,000 square feet to somewhere around 80,000 square feet.

“People need to understand it is definitely going to be a lot bigger than Best Buy,” he said.

“Bass Pro is really looking at this market and they really think there’s a lot of potential now,” he said.

In addition to FAMvest, local elected officials will be at the meeting to comment on the project.

The dispute ballooned at the beginning of the year when a new slate of supervisors took office in the township, with Terri Lauchle as chairman of the board.

Ever since the mall closed and the property was purchased by FAMvest, there have been rumors about what is going to be done with it. Last year, it was announced that Bass Pro was seeking to open a store there. The former board of supervisors approved the land development plan, but left office without signing it. The current board is alleging that they cannot find the plan and so they have yet to sign it, which potentially could delay the development.

“Technically, it comes down to how the municipal code is going to be enforced,” said Jason Fink, CEO of the WLCC recently.

“The one item that they’re to be signing has been through all of the requirements for the township, that final subdivision plan. All that needs to be done is for the two signatures and then it goes to the county for filling it, so it’s basically perfunctory what they’re supposed to be doing,” he said.

“The concerns are, they’ve gone through the process, they’re waiting for the document to be signed. They’ve already submitted the land development plan, but they couldn’t do it traditionally because they (the supervisors) were saying they didn’t have anybody to receive it…that doesn’t lie with the supervisors. Terri thinking that they have control over the entire process there, they don’t,” he said.

Fink pointed out that it will probably be for the courts to bring a resolution to the situation.

Because of missteps by the supervisors, there is some question if any of the actions taken at their first meeting in January were legitimate.

First, there were no seconds to any motions at that meeting, which means that they were not valid actions. There also were emergency meetings held without the public receiving advance notice. Lauchle has come out as the most vocal spokesperson in the dispute.

“If you look at the actions from the time she’s taken office at the beginning of January to up until last week and even presently, with some of the things that they’ve been posting…I mean, to sit there and say we’re basically shutting down the township until we get a staff person, that’s not actually permissible under municipal code,” Fink said.

It’s also concerning, he said, that other projects in the township, such as the Chick-fil-A build at Lycoming Crossings, could be affected by the supervisors’ actions. Even homeowners in the township thinking ahead to spring projects could experience delays due to the actions of the supervisors.

Fink admitted that in looking at the state’s statutes, even though the board is derelict in a lot of their responsibilities, “there’s no real recourse at this point to address it.”

“It looks like there may be the ability for a petition that could be taken to county court to have it looked into,” he said, adding only 125-130 signatures would be needed, he said.