In a historic 4-1 vote last week, Towamencin Township Supervisors agreed to a new sanitary sewer system buyer, at an $11 million loss from the original $115 million offered by NextEra Energy, according to The Reporter.
Now, PA American Water will take over the Asset Purchase Agreement in the $104 million sale, according to the report.
“The assignment agreement will assign NextEra’s interests in the asset purchase agreement to PA American,” said supervisors chairman Chuck Wilson. “This assignment, if approved, merely allows PA American to step into the shoes of NextEra, under the APA as amended. The result of this assignment is not changing the outcome that was presented publicly last year.”
The vote came two weeks after a surprise agenda item where supervisors announced that NextEra backed out of the deal. Read more on that meeting here. At that meeting, it was stated NextEra faced a $10 million penalty if it backed out of the deal entirely.
According to Underground Infrastructure, Wilson said he was very pleased with PA American Water.
“We are very pleased that Pennsylvania American Water will be our new wastewater partner,” Wilson said in the report. “They are widely regarded for their operation of wastewater systems, customer service, and environmental stewardship.”
According to Underground Infrastructure, Pennsylvania American Water will seek all necessary approvals from its regulators and expects to close the transaction by mid-year 2024.
After nearly two years of study by financial advisor PFM, and numerous contentious town halls and public comment periods, supervisors voted 4-1 in May 2022 to sell the township sewer plant, sanitary sewer system, and sewer right-of-ways to NextEra for $115.3 million, which was the highest responsible bidder, according to The Reporter.
Opponents to the sewer sale – which include elected Government Study Commission members Kofi Osei and Jennifer Foster, among many others – urged residents at the meeting last week to vote for the home rule charter in the May Primary. The commission determined that the home rule charter has a chance to negate the sewer sale, per the report.
If the home rule vote is a success on May 16, Towamencin Township would become a home rule charter with second-class township provisions on July 1. But first, the Government Study Commission, which is in its waning days, will hold an April 24 town hall session ahead of the primary at North Penn High School.
Residents against the sale made it known since the early town hall meetings that, according to The Reporter, they did not want rate hikes just for NextEra to recoup its purchase price and believed the sewer system is not in dire straits. Meanwhile, supervisors saw the $115 million as an opportunity to eliminate debt and fund many capital projects, among other wants.
Recent public comments on the topic have seen more opponents to the sale speaking out than opponents to the home rule charter. Those outspoken against home rule, which have included residents Mike and Shannon Main, Dr. Richard Costlow, and Kris Kazmar, cite either concern over the charter’s amendment process to change provisions in the code, or that the November 2022 referendum question for Towamencin voters made no mention of a sewer sale negation as the impetus for a study commission. All public comments from GSC meetings are viewable on the Government Study Commission YouTube channel. All supervisor meetings are recorded and saved to Vimeo and viewable on the township website.
The election results from November have become a debate in semantics at recent Towamencin GSC meetings. It has been stated by the commission that 60% of township voters approved the Government Study Commission and the election of seven board members. Yet, those who were against that November election outcome see it as 60% of voters that turned out that day approved it, not 60% of total voters in the township.
Read more on the sewer sale situation here.
See also:
Towamencin Home Rule Charter Headed to Ballot in May Primary
Group of Residents Voice Issues with Towamencin Government Study Commission’s Speed and Processes
Submission: Towamencin Government Study Commission Update
