On August 5 at 7 p.m., Hilltown Township residents and business owners had planned to show up in a big way for a Zoning Hearing Board meeting in the municipal building on West Creamery Road, but that meeting never happened. The applicant had withdrawn their application six days before. Whether the board would have approved or denied Fiddletree, LLC’s requested variance that would allow for a 24/7 industrial waste facility is anybody’s guess.
Hours before the application was withdrawn July 31, life-long Telford resident Lauren Geitz launched a website and official Facebook page for the newly-formed non-profit Hilltown Against Bright Feeds. This after months of using her personal social media to keep everyone updated on the progress and findings regarding the proposed site on Bethlehem Pike and the unwelcome tenant, Bright Feeds.
“I had literally just launched everything for the nonprofit and then an hour later my mom calls me, yelling for me to check out Hilltown announcing their withdrawal. The timing was absolutely crazy,” she said.
Ironically, one of her first posts on the new social page was the last thing she thought she’d write on day one. The post read:
“We have JUST LEARNED that Fiddletree LLC has withdrawn Appeal
2026-008 for the proposed facility at 4610 Bethlehem Pike. The scheduled Aug 5 Zoning Hearing meeting has been cancelled.”
Fiddletree, LLC, a company headquartered in Coopersburg, Pennsylvania according to public records, purchased the property in 2023 and has remained the applicant throughout the zoning process.
Even with the withdrawal, Geitz says the website and social media page will remain a public resource to review public documents and to stay informed about future proposals.
The Impact Area
According to the website, over 18,000 residents could be affected if an industrial food waste facility producing no less than 400 tons of waste per day were permitted to operate. The noise, air, and water pollution would directly impact the Villages at Dorchester, Quiet Acres and Rockhill communities, and more broadly Perkasie, Sellersville, Souderton and Telford.
“I’d never received anything from Hilltown letting me know about any proposed meetings or construction.” So says John Klucznik whose home and business sit across the street from the proposed site. Only when a neighbor left a flyer on his doorstep about the food recycling plant, had he learned there was a serious threat to his property which also includes a home school with dedicated classrooms.
“We are a registered home school and under Pennsylvania DEP’s Environmental Justice Policy children and educational environments are classified as highly sensitive receptors. Operating a food waste plant which handles decaying organic matter and chemical residues within 900 feet of a full-time student poses an unacceptable environment, respiratory and acoustic hazard to a learning environment.”
Klucznik said he’s invested a lot to restore his property and to create a safe environment and future for his wife and children. He’s put in a lot of hours attending strategy meetings, townships meetings and consulting with lawyers “trying to sort out how to defend my family and friends in this David and Goliath saga.” He stated that he and his neighbors are most concerned with how it could affect their property values and mental health.
“Having struggled with PTSD the threat of these people trying to invade our community is overwhelming and unacceptable.”
“We created Hilltown Against Bright Feeds because it was extremely difficult for residents to get clear, meaningful information from the township.” – Lauren Geitz
At 0.15 miles away from the proposed facility, Village at Dorcester is another location smack dab in the middle of the impact zone. The 55+ community consists of 83 units and 150 residents. One of them is Kathy Lawler. When she received a letter from the township on May 5, the 78-year-old former R.N. hadn’t been aware that the original application had been approved. The more she researched and talked with others in the community, the more the questions piled up.
“The information we got was getting fishier and fishier. Who is Fiddletree, LLC? Who is the owner? Who will the renters be? Why is there an NDA?”
Lawler stated that when the neighbors started digging, they found “the real company was Bright Feeds.” By mid-July, the united group of citizens had submitted nonprofit paperwork, opened a bank account and consulted with counsel. “Volunteers pitched in to post signs and spread the word about the next meeting on Aug 5,” she said.
The threat of declining property values is foremost on Kathy’s mind as it is with many of her friends and neighbors.
“The value of our houses is very important to us seniors. For some of us, [the money from] selling our homes is what will enable us to pay for continuing care.”
Plumstead’s Part
Once concerned residents had discovered Bright Feeds was the prospective tenant, they turned to the Friends for Plumstead community who had had a similar experience just eight months before. Plumstead Township had pushed back against Bright Feeds resulting in the company issuing a formal withdrawal of its land development application for 6124 Potters Lane in October 2025. Bob Mergner is the chairman and co-founder of Friends for Plumstead. He commented on how eliminating the use of NDAs in the land development approval process is their group’s highest priority.
“It’s important that Friends for Plumstead are aware that Bright Feeds is using NDAs and new LLCs to obscure their identity. When a company comes to town with a proposal for a project and they won’t tell you something as simple as who they are, you know that the project is NOT something that’s going to improve your quality of life.”
A wellspring of information
The website makes it possible for residents and businesses to receive and share information and updates, bearing out the non-profit’s mission “to educate, inform, and empower the community by providing accessible information about the proposed Bright Feeds facility and the local land use process.” In addition to a timeline tracking Fiddletree’s application, the website includes a map illustrating the proposed impact area, links to public documents and a donation page.
“We created Hilltown Against Bright Feeds because it was extremely difficult for residents to get clear, meaningful information from the township. At times, it felt like the township didn’t fully understand what it was passing through its zoning and planning pipeline,” said Geitz.
During the application process, the prospective tenant’s identity was not publicly disclosed during much of the initial planning process. Finally, Bright Feeds involvement was identified through EPA public documents.
“We want to go to other communities and tell them that they need to have a watchdog committee and have funds and have a plan in case something like this comes up in their community.” – Kathy Lawler
“One concern I still have is the unanswered question, ‘What is Project Patriot?’ The site developers repeatedly referenced it throughout the process, yet residents still haven’t received clear answers about what it actually was,” said Geitz.
She attributes much of the movement’s success to the overwhelming support of the community, as well as the determination of her mother, Barbara Geitz, who has been advocating for residents affected by waste companies and industrial zoning along Bethlehem Pike since 2003, when BFI Waste Systems proposed a trash transfer station alongside existing residential homes.
“Barbara is a leader and the driving force behind rallying our neighbors—going door to door, raising awareness, placing signs, and spending countless hours contacting environmental agencies.”
Not in my backyard, not in yours either
First Plumstead, then Hilltown, and now Plainfield. The website includes information and an impact zone map for a proposed facility planned for 40 Green Knight Drive in Wind Gap. The prospective tenant associated with the manufacturing facility is Bright Feeds using the alias Pennsylvania Agricultural Ingredients, LLC on their application. A Plainfield Township Board of Supervisor’s meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. on August 12 at 6292 Sullivan Trail, Nazareth, Pennsylvania.
Hilltown Against Bright Feeds has contacted the boroughs within the Slate Belt region of Northampton County to warn them, according to Lawler. “We want to go to other communities and tell them that they need to have a watchdog committee and have funds and have a plan in case something like this comes up in their community.”
Looking Ahead
In her July 31 post, Geitz noted that the previously approved land development plan for the property remains in place and that the site may still be developed in the future.
“While Bright Feeds is no longer moving forward under this application, the property owner could seek another tenant for the approved manufacturing facility,” she wrote.
“This is an important moment for our community, but it is not the end of the story.”
