Hundreds of years ago, a seller might bring a pig to market in a cloth bag (or “poque”). Smart buyers knew to look inside the drawstring “poque” before agreeing to buy. A buyer on the wrong end of a con could end up with a cat and no bacon.

Hillwood Development Co., based in Texas, is bringing a proposal for a facility in Churchill wrapped in pretty promises: over 1,000 permanent jobs, “remediation” of a site, increased tax revenues and something labeled “environmentally positive design criteria.” Hillwood seeks approval from Churchill Borough Council. Council members, who will soon be voting to approve or deny it, ought to take a scrutinizing look inside the bag.

A first look at the proposal’s contents leads to eye-rubbing over the size: 2.6 million square feet. For comparison, the Sears Outlet facility in Lawrenceville that Amazon plans to lease is 330,000 square feet. It’s considered massive, yet eight of them would fit inside the proposed Churchill facility.

Then there’s the massive earth-moving proposed. “Why?” one must ask. “Why not build within the existing research campus hardscape? Or, better yet, repurpose existing buildings?” Instead, Hillwood plans to demolish the buildings, remove 1,400 trees, and increase the site hardscape from 33 acres to 57. Residents on the borough’s Tree Committee did the scrutinizing here, a detailed quantitative review that concluded that Hillwood’s proposal should not be approved, citing a plethora of negative health and environmental impacts.

As for slope stability, the serious, life-threatening public safety impacts described would be reason alone to reject the proposal.

That’s a taste of what a closer look inside the bag yields based on what’s there. A wise buyer looks for what ought to be there, too. Churchill’s zoning code for distribution centers requires a water quality impact study. Hillwood hasn’t provided one.

Hillwood’s original submittal mentioned a crash analysis, but it is not publicly available. The borough says it doesn’t have it, either. A study of additional crashes expected from the estimated 4,500-plus trips of 18-wheeler trucks to merge with weekly passenger vehicular traffic seems relevant to the borough’s deliberations, though, doesn’t it? In the pretty traffic animation Hillwood presented to council last Monday, trucks always arrived at the stoplight before cars did. There was never any snow, ice or rain affecting stopping distances. Crashes weren’t mentioned.

Many of Hillwood’s studies and plans are publicly available, though. Residents, at least read and scrutinize them. Many bring expertise of their own. Some have consulted experts for help. They’ve noted major errors in the impact studies about air quality, stormwater control, noise and vibrations. They’ve studied stacks of drawings and reviewed data-heavy traffic and parking studies. They’ve commented on the problematic way that the conditional use process is being implemented. They’ve pointed out misconceptions about the site Hillwood has promulgated. They’ve noted that the major benefit to the region cited in favor of the facility, i.e., the 1,000-plus jobs, may not really offer all that council imagines.

It’s crucial that council not dismiss borough residents’ comments as whining about inconvenience or expressing personal preferences. Many are, rather, attempts to “let the cat out of the bag,” i.e., to point out that what Hillwood is concealing in the “poque” it wants council to accept is not what Hillwood implies is in the bag.

The skeptical residents’ struggle to let the cat out of the pretty bag that Hillwood is tantalizing council with should show up during the public hearing, which reconvenes today at 6 p.m. on Facebook Live. The crucial question is: Will council dare to peek?

Susan G. Sterrett is a Churchill resident. She holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Cornell University, master’s degrees in mathematics and philosophy from the University of Pittsburgh, and a doctorate in philosophy from Pitt.

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