Board OKs refund, updates status of lawsuit

CHESTER » The Stormwater Authority of the City of Chester approved two new business items and provided an update on remaining litigation it faces during its Monday board meeting in City Council chambers.

The board unanimously approved a refund of $32,432.40 to the Delaware County Regional Water Authority for fees paid on a parcel located at 3201 Front St. DELCORA holds a state license to handle stormwater remediation on the property and successfully appealed the assessed impact fee to the Stormwater Authority for the site. The board also unanimously approved the hiring of two inspectors with salaries of $38,400 plus fringe benefits of $9,600.

Authority Solicitor Joseph Oxman reported that Widener University is the lone remaining plaintiff challenging the authority following four May 7 orders in the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas denying preliminary injunctions against the authority. Four petitions filed in January and February challenging the legality of the authority’s fee structure named about 40 total plaintiffs.

Oxman said a meeting was set for Tuesday, June 19, between Widener University and consulting firm Corvias, a private partner of the authority, to present Widener with possible in-kind contributions they could provide to the authority in exchange for a lower impact fee.

“Some of the ideas that we have include having academics in the engineering department – who have knowledge of hydrology or other stormwater or environmental-related pursuits – consult with us and help us with certain projects,” said Oxman.

“As far as the rest of the litigation, it appears the rest of our main plaintiffs have decided not to move forward with the litigation and are now beginning to pay their fees,” said Oxman.

On another matter related to the authority’s fee collection, the Times was copied this month on correspondence between a property owner and Minol, the Texas-based utility billing firm used by the authority, regarding the frequency of invoices.

The Times reported in December 2017 that the authority was moving to a quarterly billing schedule rather than its originally proposed monthly billings. The Times erroneously stated this again in its coverage of the May injunction orders.

The authority adopted a bi-monthly billing cycle following that December 2017 meeting. Authority Executive Manager the Rev. Horace Strand recently provided the Times with a copy of a letter from the authority and Minol sent with initial invoices to residents and property owners. The letter states that “invoices will be sent out approximately every 60 days.” This is the correct billing cycle for authority fees; for example, the owner of a single-family parcel charged 1 ERU of $8.25 per month will receive a bi-monthly bill for $16.50.