Sewer Authority agrees to purchase sewer system

OXFORD » The Oxford Area Sewer Authority Board voted unanimously at their Sept. 19 meeting, to accept an offer from Delcora to purchase the system.

After an executive session, the board reconvened to vote and authorize Executive Director David Busch to sign and return a twopage letter that constitutes a purchase offer for the sewer system.

Bullet items in the letter spell out the framework of the deal. All of the Authority’s assets are a part of the sale, including the sewer plant, collection lines, and spray fields. It also will include the Authority office building in Oxford and the vacant property on Reedville Road, both of which are currently offered for sale.

The impending purchase does not impact the Authority’s progress on selling those properties or their involvement in the construction of a new sewer line to the Nottingham area. Also unaffected is the new 6th St. Pumping Station project, which has just received a $700,000 grant from the Chester County Department of Community Development.

To purchase the system, Delcora will assume the Authority’s $27 million USDA loan as well as pay USDA the $1.2 million outstanding back loan payment the Authority defaulted on last year.

Outside taking on the Authority’s debt obligations, and agreeing to pay closing costs on the sale, there is no other money involved in the purchase of the system.

“This whole thing has been structured toward keeping the rates to users as low as possible,” Busch said.

Delcora is as a sewer authority, based in Delaware County, operating systems across the state.

Among the bullet points, Delcora agrees to a threeyear rate freeze for current sewer users, with future rates adjusted using best practices. Tapping fees would not be frozen.

Delcora agrees to establish an advisory committee composed of area residents. It will also make employment offers to the four Authority employees. If Delcora should decide at some future time to sell the system spray fields, the municipalities where the fields are located (Oxford Borough and Lower Oxford Township) would have right of first refusal to purchase the land.

“If they discontinue (spray fields) we want to preserve it,” said Authority Board Chair Ron Kepler, who is also a Lower Oxford Township Supervisor.

Authority Solicitor Vince Pompo cautioned that this is not the final vote on the sale. “This is an outline of what the terms are. It’s not the final decision on if the Authority decides to sell the asset,” he said.

There is a 90-day target for preparing the purchase agreement, with 60 days from that point to purchase. One contingency to the sale is the USDAs willingness to allow Delcora to take over Oxford’s debt. If that approval process takes more than 90 days, it could push back the sale date.

A confidentiality clause in the letter from Delcora prohibits the Authority from discussing details of the pending sale, even with their member municipalities. The letter however, once it was read and the vote taken, became a matter of public record.