The Montgomery Area School District and the Clinton Township Board of Supervisors have reached a settlement agreement that will see the district withdraw its current complaint, which was set to be heard before Lycoming County Judge Eric Linhardt Wednesday morning.

The suit, filed by the district, sought the reversal of a decision by the supervisors denying a land use plan for the construction of a new junior-senior high school at the site of the Montgomery Area Athletic & Community Center (MAACC), 537 Old Road, as well as damages in the amount of $137,000 for each month the plan has been delayed, as well as attorney’s fees, court filings said.

In exchange for withdrawing the complaint, the Board of Supervisors have agreed to a fixed timeline during which the district’s updated Preliminary/Final Land Development Plan, dated Jan. 13, 2025, will be considered by the board and the township Planning Commission, according to the settlement.

The first step would be a review of the Sewage Facility Planning Module by the Planning Commission at their Jan. 21 meeting,

Following that review, the commission and the district, along with their engineer, would communicate in an effort to address any concerns raised by the commission.

Next, the commission will review the full plan and make a recommendation to the board at their Feb. 18 meeting. Following the review, all three will again work together to resolve any continuing issues.

The supervisors would then review and take action on the plan during their March 10 meeting.

“My thought was, at least it gives the township and the school a fresh start in which there’s no litigation or other issues from either side,” township solicitor Zack DuGan said at a special meeting held Monday afternoon.

No guarantee of approval is made within the settlement, which also does not affect ongoing litigation at the Commonwealth Court, in which the township is seeking an appeal of a June ruling by Judge William Carlucci that struck down six conditions put upon the project by the supervisors when they approved the plan in August.

“I would caution against conditioning any of that on this, because it would throw a monkey wrench into this litigation,” DuGan said, though he expressed his hope that further discussion outside the scope of the settlement would take place.

Following a vote ratifying the settlement by the Montgomery Area School Board Tuesday night, Superintendent Daphne Bowers was optimistic about future prospects of the plan.

“We just hope that we can follow the outlined timeline, and work together with the township so that we can move forward in the best interest of our students,” she said.