BAINBRIDGE – The Bainbridge Town Hall was filled to capacity Tuesday night as residents gathered for a public hearing on whether the town should enter into discussions with Leatherstocking Natural Gas.

The limited liability company, a joint venture between Mirabito Holdings, Inc. and Corning Natural Gas, is seeking a franchise agreement with the Town of Bainbridge to use the public right-of-way along town, county and state roads for the purpose of installing a natural gas distribution pipeline.

Company officials say the gas transported by the pipeline would go to large industrial customers, like Amphenol and MeadWestvaco, and other businesses as well as schools, municipal buildings and some residential customers.

“Our focus is local gas for local people,” said Joe Mirabito, president of Mirabito Holdings, Inc.

He and his business associates see the economic viability of the project, and believe it will help preserve jobs. He stressed that Leatherstocking is not a producer, driller, interstate pipeline, gathering company, gas storage company nor a processor, but a transportation company.

“Right now, this is an opportunity for two local companies to come together to fill a local need for local people,” he said.

Corning Natural Gas President and CEO Mike German explained some of the more technical details of the project. According to German, the pipeline his company intends to install would carry natural gas at a pressure of no more than 124 psi, and would not require compression stations. The pipe itself would be 6 to 8” in diameter, medium to high density plastic pipe buried at an average depth of 30” below the surface.

“We will completely restore everything where we put in pipe,” he said.

German explained that natural gas was one of the cleanest burning fuels, and the source of 25 percent of the U.S.’s energy. He pointed to CNG’s 107-year history serving residential, commercial and industrial customers in the Corning area.

“We have plentiful low cost gas coming from local producers,” he said, explaining that the public utility already has franchise agreements in place with 15 municipalities.

“We want to be a partner in this town, not an adversary,” he said.

He also tried to dispel rumors which had circulated at a similar public hearing held in Coventry last week, which drew scores of anti-gas protesters from Coventry and neighboring townships.

German stressed that as a public utility, Leatherstocking would be highly regulated by the New York State Public Service Commission, and he denied the company had any intention of exercising the right of eminent domain to seize private land. In fact, he said that as an LLC, the company didn’t have that option.

“We have no eminent domain authority,” he reported.