Meeting Minutes Feb. 6, 2010

I. Executive Summary
About 40 people attended.
3 Townships: Caroline, Danby, Dryden

Paul Vidovich suggested everyone introduce themselves, name, road, township (thank you Paul)

II. Cornell Co-op Extension Forum on Natural Gas Landowner Coalitions
Date: March 13, 2010 (afternoon time & place to be decided)
This will be an important info. meeting for Tompkins on basic administration options, what coalitions can do for you, how they can be funded, etc.
Main panelists: rep's from the Tioga Landowners Coalition
Tompkins has no Landowner Coalition to date so local redundancy is not an issue at this point.

III. General Discussion On Gas Development, Landowner Focus
The 1st Landmen started coming around in 2006; Lincoln & I sensed based on our greed, we weren't being offered much. We talked to some neighbors, figured out families were being told different things by the Landmen signing bonus wise, etc. About a dozen families decided to keep in touch, lease status varied. No need to go through this as a single family up against the gas developers, wait & see approach best. (Linda Adams)

Fast forward to now and everyone agreed the shale is NOT what the Landmen talked about process wise in 2006 & 2007 & most of 2008.

To top it off New York State Law (Fall 2008) changed the spacing unit to a well every 40 acres for shallow formations adding further unforeseen Landowner surprises. (Bruce Murray)

Recent road trips of various PA well sites didn't seem that bad from the road nor were the roads themselves ruined. The bulldozers are enormous though and the bridges have overweight traffic. (Tony Tavelli)

There was a great deal of dialogue about the slick water fracking technique utilized to release the gas from the shale. The chemicals commonly added to the process are horrible. (Bill Podulka, Cyrus Umrigas, everyone)

Many had heard about the huge amount of fresh water needed in the slick water fracking 3-8 million gallons per fracture.

It would be a good idea to have a person with oversight for Landowner interests at each well pad being drilled; that makes sense to me, maybe a coalition with dues to cover this service. (Cal Snow)

New signing bonuses are reported to range from $5,000 to $6,000 dollars an acre which would mean a gross bonus of $1.6 million to one farm family.

Toured a PA site where drilling was taking place, it is quite an engineering feat in and of itself. (Milton Tamm)

Many people do not have the luxury to say no to this kind of income. People are in dire straits what with State taxes and farm families losing money on their products. (Lincoln Adams)

Helen Slottje helped out numerous times with points from a legal perspective.
There are serious negative consequences to Landowners leasing. (Helen Slottje)

A set of best practices and recommendations should be shared amongst us. (Joe Wilson)

There was sincere, emotional, and pointed debate about what the risks are and the fact this is an opportunity or curse depending on your point of view.

The protections I want to leverage I can't do on just my 25 acres, I need my neighbors united with me. (Linda Adams)

In the end there was general agreement that it makes sense for Landowners to come together. Some will not lease under any circumstances; others will unit around the goal to seek a fair revenue and protective lease. There is no need for any family to go through this alone and do not rush to sign! See you all March 13 at the Cornell Co-op Extension Meeting.