'Whispering Ridge' Townhouse Project Subject Of Special Wright Planning Meeting

By ELAINE BERNSTEIN
Correspondent

At a Special Meeting this week, the Wright Township Planning Commission will consider granting final approval to a local townhouse project with a history of links to several figures in the ongoing Luzerne County corruption scandal.

W-Cat, Inc. has requested final approval for the Whispering Ridge Townhouse project, according to an application filed with Wright Township on October 6th. This Church Road development was formerly known as The Sanctuary.

Jill A. Moran signed the application as president of W-Cat, and Moran is further listed as W-Cat’s designated representative for the project. Moran, a former Luzerne County Prothonotary, resigned her post earlier this year. She has not been charged and has agreed to cooperate with federal investigators.

The contact information listed by Moran matches internet listings for the Powell Law Group, at 10 Fox Run Road in Drums. Moran’s law partner in that endeavor, Robert J. Powell, pleaded guilty to two counts related to the ongoing public corruption probe. Powell is currently awaiting sentencing, and his law license has since been suspended. As part of his plea agreement, Powell has agreed to continue to cooperate with the ongoing investigation.

Former Luzerne County Judges Michael T. Conahan and Mark A. Ciavarella Jr., along with Powell, had been guarantors on a several million dollar loan package used by W-Cat to finance the townhouse project. W-Cat defaulted on those loans earlier this year. Conahan and Ciaverella are currently awaiting trial on multiple federal charges,

Wright Township had granted preliminary approval to The Sanctuary project approximately five years ago.

The application documents did not provide any information regarding the project’s name change, other than noting that the Whispering Ridge project was formerly known as The Sanctuary.

The application further did not specify if Powell, Conahan or Ciaverella have any current affiliation with the Whispering Ridge project.

The meeting will be held in the Conference Room of the Wright Township Municipal Building on Thursday, November 5th at 6:30 pm.

This is part of the November 4, 2009 online edition of The Mountaintop Eagle.

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