Residents ask for sewer sale vote
First public session to discuss bids is April 6
With a possible decision drawing ever nearer, Towamencin residents continue to sound off about the possible sale of the township’s sewer system.
Several residents continued to speak out against the township’s study of a possible sale, while calling on the supervisors to make a decision quickly.
“I would like to express that I do not want our sewer system sold. Also, I would like the vote for the sale to be held at the end of the second townhall meeting, in front of your constituents,” said resident Lorena Fields.
“The decision should be completely transparent, so we can know who is working for us, and our community, and who is not,” she said.
Residents and the board have sparred over the study of a possible sewer sale since fall 2020, when the board approved study of a possible privatization of the township’s sewer system, including a sewer treatment plant on Kriebel Road.
Over the subsequent year and a half, residents have spoken out against the possible sale, and formed a “Towamencin
Neighbors Opposing Privatization Efforts” Facebook group to discuss, and share comments and clips from various board meetings.
Five formal bids offering terms of sale or lease from interested firms, and one nearby municipal authority, were presented by analyst PFM in February, and the supervisors announced in early March that two public townhalls will be held on April 6 and 20 to discuss PFM’s analysis of those bids and field feedback. Several residents took aim at those bids, and at PFM, during public comments on Wednesday night, while asking for specifics on the townhalls.
“When will the board explain the format of the townhall meetings? Community members continue to be accused of spreading rumors, so here is your chance to clear the record,” said resident Jenn Foster.
“In addition, I would ask that the vote on the decision about the sale be made at the April 20 meeting. There’s no reason to drag this out. I believe the board knows how a majority of the community feels, so it’s incumbent upon you as elected officials to listen to those concerns, and make your vote public, immediately after the April 20 meeting, in front of as many residents as possible,” she said.
Joanne Goble echoed the call for an immediate vote, and said she felt it “prudent that the decision about our essential infrastructure be made in front of as many Towamencin residents and businesses as possible, and resident Bruce Bailey similarly asked for a decision on April 20. Maureen Parry said she’s also opposed: “In no way does it make sense to turn over our sewer plant to any company that will make a profit from the residents of Towamencin.”
“The residents need to vote on any plan, not just a few board members. This will impact every resident that lives in Towamencin. We are already financially strapped. Please do what it takes to keep our sewer plant owned and operated by Towamencin,” Parry said.
Tina Gallagher thanked the board for setting the two dates, and asked the supervisors to speak during the townhalls too: “If you think this is a good idea, sell that idea. PFM will be rewarded for the sale by the percentage they receive” of the sale proceeds, she said; “a backdoor tax is what this appears to be. I hope you can explain how it is not.”
Rakesh Godhania added that he’s also opposed, and asked the board to address a key question: “if the sewer plant is sold, where does the money go?” After reading those comments submitted beforehand via email, board President Chuck Wilson said the board would take all of the feedback “into consideration, as we make our decision on this very, very important matter,” before turning the floor over to additional residents giving comments in person.
Kofi Osei, founder of the NOPE group, addressed what he called the “sleight-of-hand tricks” in PFM’s presentation to the board, and gave reasons why he felt the board should rule out each of the five bid proposals received.
“NextEra Energy and VICO can go straight to the garbage. Both entities are brand new at wastewater treatment, and surely haven’t developed the expertise we’re supposedly looking for,” he said.
“I don’t believe either has a footprint in PA, so they can’t even do the cost-sharing trick, where we pretend we don’t have to pay them back,” with rate increases to customers ultimately paying for the upfront purchase price to the township: “These are monopolies. They are going to make their money back, or they wouldn’t bid.”
As for the bids from Aqua and PA American, Osei said he felt “Aqua is particularly brazen about privatization, but PA American always seems to be in the same lobbying rooms,” and questioned the accuracy of the future rate projections from both, saying he felt both would likely attempt to impose a surcharge beyond those projected rates to cover the costs of capital upgrades.
“These two projections are just wrong, based on how rates are set in the real world. And by their own admission, the resident costs are deeply undershot” due to those surcharges, Osei said, adding “Into the trash can for those bids.”
The fifth bid, from the adjacent Franconia Sewer Authority, should be discarded if the board is only interested in selling to a larger entity, but Osei suggested it could form the basis of a larger public utility similar to the former Upper Gwynedd-Towamencin Municipal Authority that jointly operated Towamencin’s plant until a split in 2015.
“The APA doesn’t include any protection from Franconia turning around and flipping our property” to another corporate owner, Osei said, referring to their proposed asset purchase agreement, before adding “I think we have an obvious first partner for a regional sewer authority.”
Gisela Koch added that she’s opposed because any option “is going to increase our rates tremendously. They’re already very high compared to last year,” and said she doesn’t seen any benefit to residents.
“I beg that the folks that are our elected officials look really for the benefits for our community residents, not so much on the dollar sign that’s going to come out of the sale,” she said.
Martin Cohen reiterated the comments he’s made for months, saying he was worried about the Pennsylvania Utility Commission being “the only one standing” between the residents and rate increases if the plant is sold to a private owner.
“They seem to be showing rates going up and doubling in approximately ten years, not including capital improvements. And I think there’s a potential for there to be a lot of upside, above and beyond that,” he said.
Prior to reading the first batch of public comments, Wilson announced the dates of the two townhall meetings, “to present and review the bid results and related analysis and projections regarding the potential sewer system sale or lease,” and said letters had been mailed to all residential sewer customers with details.
Towamencin’s supervisors next meet at 7 p.m. on April 13 and 27 at the township administration building, 1090 Troxel Road, and will host two special townhall meetings to discuss the sewer sale study at 7 p.m. on April 6 and 20 at Dock Mennonite Academy, 1000 Forty Foot Road. For more information visit www. Towamencin.org.