Letter to the Editor

Editor:
This is in response to Maureen Ruhl’s Letter to the Editor in The Record on May 19, 2022
I will address this as a Renovo Council member and a lifelong resident of Renovo.

I am supporting the Renovo Energy Center. I thank those who have taken an interest in bringing this industry, the Investors. I don’t see them as greedy, but people who are interested in bringing new industry to our town.

Anyone could have invested, why hasn’t Mrs. Ruhl invested to bring a new industry to Renovo? With concerns for clean air how does she heat her home, does she have an electric car?

The investors nor Renovo Energy has made a statement that there will be several hundred promised jobs with the new plant. At several meetings I attended including 2014 it was stated by Renovo Energy there could be as many as 750 construction workers building the new plant. Upon completion of the plant up there will be up to 35 permanent workers employed.

The new resolution in no new “bag of tricks”. I as a council member signed it. The resolutions were something that showed “renewed support” for the project since legal action had been filed against DEP for its issuance of an air quality permit to Renovo Energy Center. REC continues to work on financing, etc., and plans to follow through with the project.

As a lifelong resident of Renovo let me share some history of the industries who came and left Renovo.
When two of my children chose to work and stay in Renovo following graduation they worked at Keystone Bindery & mailing. A month or so working there they showed up for work one morning only to find they pulled their business out of town during the night.

My husband and I were both employed at United Chem-Con as well as hundreds of others when to our surprise we went to the bank to cash our paychecks to find out the bank couldn’t honor them. The company had gone bankrupt.

Other industries have come and gone through the years. Renovo had a great reputation of qualified welders, electricians, laborers, and dedicated workers across our tracks. They worked in extreme cold as well as extreme heat not missing a day’s work.

Some industries show no interest in investing here because unfortunately Renovo is off the beaten path having no easy access from Interstate 80. I was once employed by our local furniture store and the owners had to charge more for their goods because the truck company had to go a longer drive to reach Renovo.

In closing I want to say this as my opinion. This is our last chance residents of Renovo to bring this new industry to fruition. It’s the future of our town.

Pattie Rauch
Renovo, PA