Borough to sell sewer system

ROYERSFORD » Borough council is moving ahead with its intention to sell the sewer system to Pennsylvania American Water.

Borough Manager Michael Leonard said council voted unanimously Nov. 19 to sell the system for $13 million.

The offer includes a two-year rate freeze for customers that could be increased to three years.

Pennsylvania American is the

company that provides public water to the borough.

It is among the larger privately owned public utility

companies buying up public water and sewer systems across Pennsylvania.

Aqua PA, which is the company that bought Limerick’s sewer system in 2018 for $75 million, also bid on the borough’s system.

Leonard said the Aqua offer

was $10 million.

The deal still must be approved by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission and the process may take until the fall until it’s completed, said Leonard.

That process is being handled by PFM, a company that specializes in financing for public entities like school districts, townships and boroughs.

It is the same company hired by Upper Pottsgrove Township, which is also considering selling its sewer system that feeds into the Pottstown

Wastewater Treatment Plant.

“We’ve been debating this for a long time,” Leonard said. “We’re a small municipality and the costs keep going up and up.”

Added to that is a dropping collection rate for sewer bills.

Uncollected bills add up to about $30,000 each quarter.

“That may not sound like a lot, but our entire borough budget is $3 million,” he said. Of that, about $1 million goes toward operations and maintenance for the sewer system.

Royersford is one square

mile and has a population of about 4,700 people. Its sewer plant, located on First Avenue, was built in the 1930s and has two pump stations. It has a capacity of 750,000 gallons per

day.

By comparison, Pottstown’s wastewater treatment plant, which services 15,000 homes in the borough and portions of the surrounding townships

of West Pottsgrove, Upper Pottsgrove and Lower Pottsgrove, has a capacity of 15.6 million gallons per day.

The transaction falls under Act 12, which allows municipalities

that own water and wastewater systems to sell their systems to regulated public utilities at fair market valuation.

Also aided by Act 12, Exeter

Township in Berks County sold its sewer treatment plant to Pennsylvania American Water Co. for $96 million in October.