What's the difference between clearing brush and taking down trees?

Quite a bit when it comes to work on new athletic fields at McCormick Elementary School in Moon, a project that the township has shut down twice.

The school board voted late last year to allocate $283,000 to build a baseball field and football and soccer practice fields needed to replace the ones that will be damaged when work on the new high school begins.

Construction began in mid-December when district crews began clearing trees from a 3- to 4-acre parcel by the school.

On Dec. 22, after a complaint from a neighbor, the township asked Moon Area School District to stop work on the site.

Township Manager Greg Smith held a conference call with township engineer Larry Souleret and school board President Mark Scappe to amend the problem and get everyone "on the same page."

Township officials contend they were told the work would involve only clearing some small brush, which would not require a permit.

Instead, trees were being cleared and the land graded, they said, and that does require a permit.

The district also has to submit a plan for future use of the land, as well as adhere to any regulations regarding signage on the property.

The district's architects, Zelienople-based Foreman Architects Engineers Inc., applied for a permit that is under review by Souleret.

A week later, on Dec. 29, Smith said that district crews were again clearing trees and had to be made to stop.

Smith doesn't think the district willfully flouted the rules, but said it might have been somewhat careless about the proper procedure for the project.

"They put the cart before the horse on this," Smith said. Scappe had said he feared that the delay in the fields project was tied to general opposition to the project, which has been a political firestorm in the township for several years.

Neither Scappe nor board Vice President Peggy Bell could be reached yesterday for comment.

"It's not personal and it's not political," Smith said. "We're just trying to do our business. As long as they comply with the ordinances, there should be no problems."