- The Northampton County Conservation District will break off from the county government and become an independent agency
- County Executive Lamont McClure announced the decision at a County Council meeting Thursday
- It caps a bitter fight between the district and the county that began earlier this year over control of district finances
EASTON, Pa. — A bitter faceoff between the Northampton County Conservation District and county administration will end in a split, as officials announced Tuesday they were cutting the district loose.
Currently, the conservation district is an agency of county government. It will become an independent agency, responsible for its own finances, expenses, hiring, employee benefits and nearly everything else.
Explaining his decision, County Executive Lamont McClure said the district recently breached its contract with the county by making moves to receive state money in their own new accounts, rather than through the county government’s.
“These aggressive and unlawful actions demonstrate to me that that's what they want to do.”Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure
“Therefore, today, we inform the conservation district that they have their 90-day notice and that they can begin the process of becoming fully independent,” McClure told the County Council. “These aggressive and unlawful actions demonstrate to me that that's what they want to do.”
He said that while the county is required to give 90 days' notice to dissolve their agreement, the district can have until Dec 31, 2024, to work out how it will function on its own.
The district and the county have been locked in a dispute over management of the district’s finances. Representatives for the conservation district’s board of directors, led by Treasurer John Mauser, first approached a county council committee in July, saying the county administration was mishandling district funds.
Northampton County Director of Administration Charles Dertinger has maintained from the beginning that the county has handled their money appropriately and that the conflict is just a misunderstanding on the part of conservation district officials.
A heated meeting last month showed the deep mutual distrust between the county and the district and heralded the collapse of their relationship.
"There are no issues with the conservation district’s finances. It’s been explained to [Mauser] ad nauseam.”Northampton County Director of Fiscal Affairs Steve Barron
“Every year, we are audited by the state, and County Council has hired their own external auditors," County Director of Fiscal Affairs Steve Barron said last month. "There are no issues with the conservation district’s finances. It’s been explained to [Mauser] ad nauseam.”
Conservation districts like Northampton County's were created by the state legislature in 1945, initially to promote soil and water conservation among farmers. Every county except Philadelphia has one.
In addition to its historic mission, today it largely handles permitting for agriculture, construction and other earthmoving projects dealing with erosion control and post-construction stormwater management.
