Received 10/20/2015 Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania

Filed 10/20/2015 Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania

491 MD 2015

IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA

The Dauphin County Industrial
Development Authority

:
:
:
Petitioner
:
v.
:
The Commonwealth of
:
Pennsylvania Office of the Budget, :
The Susquehanna Art Museum,
:
Fulton Bank, N.A., and
:
JEM Group/Carrollton LLC,
:
:
Respondents
:

No. 491 MD 2015

Application of The Susquehanna Art Museum to

Continue the Hearing Scheduled for October 22, 2015
The Susquehanna Art Museum (the Museum) by and through its
undersigned counsel, and with the concurrence of Petitioner Dauphin County
Industrial Development Authority (the Authority) and Respondents
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Office of the Budget (the Office), Fulton Bank,
N.A. (the Bank),1 and JEM Group/Carrollton LLC, respectfully request the Court
to continue the hearing scheduled for October 22, 2015, for three (3) weeks, and to
permit the case to continue in mediation, averring in support thereof as follows:
1.

The Authority initiated this case on September 30, 2015, by filing a

Petition for Review under this Courts original jurisdiction.

1

While the Bank concurs in this Application, it seeks a continuance of the

October 22 hearing for only two (2) weeks, not three (3) weeks as requested
by the Museum.

225780.5 10/20/2015

2.

As set forth more specifically in the Authoritys Petition, the nature of

the action concerns a dispute over the prospective payment of funds from a grant
administered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Office of the Budget and the
Authority.
3.

Concurrently with its Petition, the Authority submitted a letter to the

Chief Clerk, requesting that the case be mediated through the Courts mediation
program.
4.

Also on September 30, the Authority filed an Application seeking an

order for the Authority to tender the disputed funds into Court.
5.

By Order dated October 5, 2015, the Court (Quigley, S.J.) scheduled a

hearing for October 22, 2015, on Petitioners Application.

6.

Since this case was filed, Respondents have been engaging in good-

faith, on-going negotiations to amicably resolve this case.

7.

The Museum therefore believes that proceeding with the October 22

hearing, as scheduled, could frustrate the parties efforts to amicably resolve this
case.
8.

Accordingly, the Museumwith the concurrence of all other

parties2respectfully requests that the Court continue the October 22 hearing for
three (3) weeks.
2

See Footnote 1 regarding the Banks position.

225780.5 10/20/2015

9.

Concurrently, the Museum believes the parties will benefit from the

Courts mediation program and respectfully requests that the Court permit the
mediation that is now underway to continue.
10.

Further, the Museum suggests that the mediator file a status report as

to the result of mediation one week prior to the date of the continued hearing.
WHEREFORE, The Susquehanna Art Museum respectfully requests this
Honorable Court to:
a.

Grant this Application;

b.

Continue the hearing in this case currently scheduled for October 22,
2015 to a date certain;

c.

Continue this case in the Courts mediation program;

d.

Order the mediator to report on the result of mediation one (1) week
prior to the date of the continued hearing; and

e.

Grant such further relief as the Court deems just and equitable.
Respectfully submitted,

Dated: October 20, 2015

William W. Warren, Jr. (PA23716)
Cory S. Winter (PA306552)
Saul Ewing LLP
2 North Second Street, Seventh Floor
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17101
wwarren@saul.com (717) 238-7698
cwinter@saul.com (717) 257-7562
Counsel for The Susquehanna Art Museum

225780.5 10/20/2015

Proof of Service
I hereby certify that on the date set forth below, I caused a true and correct
copy of the foregoing Application to be served upon the following counsel of
record via the following methods:
Via e-mail and first-class mail, postage
prepaid
Scott T. Wyland, Esquire
Issac P. Wakefield, Esquire
Salzmann Hughes, P.C.
105 North Front Street, Suite 205
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17101
Counsel for Petitioner

Via e-mail and first-class mail, postage

prepaid
Timothy Woolford, Esquire
Woolford Law P.C.
101 North Point Boulevard, Suite 200
Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17601
Counsel for JEM Group/
Carrollton, LLC

Via PACfile
Brian D. Zweiacher, Esquire
Nicholas W. Peachey, Esquire
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Office of the Budget
Governors Budget Office
333 Market Street, 18th Floor
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17101
Counsel for The Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania, Office of the Budget

Via e-mail and first-class mail, postage

prepaid
Donald R. Geiter, Esquire
Joshua J. Knapp, Esquire
Barley Snyder
126 East King Street
Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17602
Counsel for Fulton Bank, N.A.
Via first-class mail, postage prepaid
PA Office of Attorney General
16th Floor, Strawberry Square
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120

Dated: October 20, 2015

Cory S. Winter

225780.5 10/20/2015