Retirees of Chester City have reached an agreement with the city’s receiver that will allow private, for-profit water companies, including Aqua Pennsylvania, to participate in the Request for Proposals (RFP) process to bid for control of the Chester Water Authority (CWA).
The announcement of the agreement, made between Receiver Vijay Kapoor and the city’s Retiree Committee, came during an Oct. 8 hearing of the City of Chester’s bankruptcy case. The deadline for bids was pushed back from Nov. 2 to Feb. 2.
On Sept.3, the Retiree Committee filed a motion and brief in its adversary proceeding against the receiver seeking to stop him from denying consideration of private sector bids for the city’s water assets in the sale process. The Retiree Committee sought relief to ensure that all bidders and all bids are permitted to be made, and the city receives fair market value for the water assets. “On behalf of the Official Committee of Retired Employees, we are pleased to have reached a resolution with the receiver on our previously filed adversary proceeding as it pertains to the sale of the city’s water assets, obtaining a highly important outcome that the committee sought in the adversary proceeding,” said Chuck Bolgunas, cochairman of the Retired Employees of the City of Chester Committee. “As part of this resolution, the receiver has agreed that it will accept all bids, public and private, in the city’s ongoing bidding process. The Retiree Committee expects that all such bids will be given full and fair consideration by the receiver to ensure that fair value is obtained for the water assets for the benefit of the City of Chester and its retirees, including first responders, who dedicated their working lives to serving Chester. While there is still work to be done, we appreciate the collaborative dialogue that led to this outcome.” Kapoor said that regardless of the outcome, the water system must be kept in private hands.
“We have been very clear,” Kapoor insisted at a recent Municipal Financial Recovery Meeting. “Chester residents deserve a fair and equitable deal to monetize the city’s interests in the water authority, DELCORA, and the Stormwater Authority of Chester. Any plan to monetize these assets must keep these assets publicly owned. This has not changed.”…