MONROE UNFILTERED: THE DAILY BUZZ | Sept. 22
Gateway Data Center: County and Township Raise Technical Objections
Tuesday, September 22, 2026
DAILY WEATHER
Fall officially arrives today, though it will look much like yesterday but a tad cooler (and that is just fine by me!). I love the Poconos year-round; but there is something very special about the Fall, unless you are one of those killjoys who associates Fall with death.
If you are reading this first thing in the morning, overnight showers may still be tapering off, so keep an umbrella handy on your way out. Chances of showers drop to 24% by afternoon as skies stay mostly cloudy, with a high near 62°F and a low near 49°F. Wednesday looks better: morning clouds give way to afternoon sun, a high near 66°F and a low near 46°F, with only a slim chance of rain.
GATEWAY DATA CENTER: COUNTY AND TOWNSHIP RAISE TECHNICAL OBJECTIONS
Two new reviews of the Smithfield Gateway data center are now posted to the township’s conditional-use website. The bottom line: neither one blocks the project, but both raise real objections that the developer and the township will have to work through before, or as a condition of, any approval.
To give credit where it is due, back in March, Smithfield Township laid out its own baseline demands for the project: a comprehensive sound study from a qualified acoustical expert, a 200-foot minimum setback after one building was flagged at only 150 feet from residential zones, a requirement that the developer thoroughly demonstrate how it would meet the project’s electrical and water needs without straining the local grid, and a decommissioning agreement backed by a bond so the site does not end up an empty concrete shell if the project ever goes bust. Six months later, the two new reviews suggest that noise, water, and decommissioning still are not fully nailed down.
The two new items fall under “Engineer Reviews & Responses”: a courtesy review from the Monroe County Planning Commission and a second technical review from the township’s own engineering consultant, T&M Associates.
The county’s review, dated Sept. 4 and signed by Lead Senior Planner Eric Koopman, is explicitly a courtesy review only, since Smithfield’s zoning code does not actually require county sign-off on a conditional use application, and the county’s letter is careful to note that final approval and any conditions are “a matter of local determination” for Smithfield’s Board of Supervisors, not the county’s call. Still, it raises 13 numbered points for the township to consider: whether the site’s several separate parcels need to be formally consolidated, whether the developer’s own emergency response plan, acoustical evaluation and traffic statement are thorough enough to count as the “comprehensive” analyses the zoning ordinance calls for, and where an existing farmhouse on the property should be relocated to. It also lists conditions the county says the township could attach to any approval, among them rooftop solar panels, parapet walls to screen roof-mounted equipment, shielding against radio and TV interference, greater use of recycled wastewater for cooling, a waste heat and hazardous waste disposal plan, a construction management plan, and a full decommissioning plan backed by financial security the township would hold until the site is properly closed down.
T&M Associates’ review, its second look at the application, finds the technical backup still falls short in several places. The submitted noise study used the wrong measurement standard, A-weighted sound levels instead of the C-weighted analysis the review says is required, measured from the wrong height, and left out a full octave band breakdown. It also does not appear to account for what happens if multiple backup generators run at the same time. The water section rests on an intent-to-serve letter that has already expired, leaving actual water demand unconfirmed. T&M also flagged that the landscape buffer does not match the required dimensions and may encroach on setbacks, that the lighting plan is incomplete, that the draft emergency response plan is inadequate, and that the traffic study contains internal inconsistencies.
Together, the two reviews describe an application with real gaps still open on noise, water, buffering, lighting, emergency planning and traffic, meaning likely more revisions from the developer before any hearing gets scheduled, and a long list for the township’s board to work through once it does.
Residents can reach Township Manager Julia Heilakka at the Municipal Center or review the full application file on the township’s own website. As we reported Monday, the project still does not have a hearing date after the original Sept. 9 date was pulled over a newspaper notice error, and there is still nothing new on the calendar. By law the township has to schedule one within 60 days of receiving the application, and it is already bracing for a crowd, saying it is “exploring larger venues to accommodate more people.”
We will report the actual hearing date the moment it becomes public.
THE DAILY RUNDOWN
One Dog Lost in Stroudsburg Fire. An eight-unit apartment building at Main and Kane streets, just up the block from the Main Street McDonald’s, caught fire Monday morning after a passerby spotted smoke coming from a downstairs unit. Firefighters kept the blaze contained to that one apartment and everyone made it out safely, but one dog did not survive. The other seven units are waiting to hear when they can go home while the cause remains under investigation.
WHAT WERE YA THINKIN'
Boom Goes the Neighborhood. Jeffrey Schuler, 66, of Stroudsburg is facing felony Weapons of Mass Destruction and Possession of Explosive/Incendiary Material charges after State Police say he set off multiple homemade explosives in his Jackson Township front yard during a dispute with two neighbors Sunday evening. Troopers say Schuler sent threatening texts before detonating the devices, and the Hazardous Device and Explosives Unit searched his home after his arrest. He is being held at Monroe County Correctional Facility pending arraignment. Presumed innocent until proven guilty.
We do not usually run trial calendars in this section, but this one has been a long time coming.
Trial Begins Today. The murder trial of Matthew H. Morales, 33, of Tobyhanna Township, was scheduled to begin today after jury selection Monday. Morales is charged with first-degree homicide in the May 2024 shooting death of Henry Koroma Jr. at My Place Bar & Grill in Middle Smithfield Township. Co-defendant Raymond Batiste faces two hindering apprehension charges over allegedly driving Morales from the scene. District Attorney Michael Mancuso said at a Sept. 14 pretrial conference he would still consider a plea deal before trial, though defense attorney Alexandar Ward says he has had trouble getting Mancuso’s attention on that front. Both men are presumed innocent until proven guilty.