Gawrylik to PUC: Sale not in public interest
SHENANDOAH – In a supplemental petition filed Feb. 23 and made public Wednesday, ex-MABS Chair Donna Gawrylik contended the sale of the water authority “is not in the public interest.”
Gawrylik previously filed a petition to intervene in January.
She said that future costs would not “be as high as borough estimates,” citing a 2020 newspaper article in which ex-MABS Chief Plant Operator Dan Salvadore was interviewed. In the article, which she attached to the filing, Salvadore said the authority had financially strengthened itself and questioned the borough’s estimated cost of $8 Million for a plant upgrade.
“What I find more disturbing is that the borough sale a sale of the system to Aqua could result in lower prices for customers,” Gawrylik said, noting that an increase of as much as 44.87% is possible under Aqua ownership.
She added that the sale of the reservoirs, which contain 670 Million gallons of water, and land, which she said totals 1,951.05 acres, would be a loss of potential future revenue for the borough.
“That land could generate income in many ways such as the new inflation reduction act which northern Schuylkill County is eligible,” Gawrylik wrote. “Property designed for the use of wind energy, which we have and property designed to capture, remove, or sequester carbon exide emission.”
She also noted the loss of cell tower lease revenue.
Gawrylik also questioned the state of the sewer authority, which is not part of the sale.
“The plant is mismanaged in many ways, much worse than the MABS water system,” Gawrylik told the regulators.
She also questioned potential conflicts of interest with Leo Pietkiewicz and J.P. Dombrosky serving on both borough council and the MABS board at the time of the sale.
“It certainly looks as a conflict of interest, unethical, and looks like an issue of impropriety,” Gawrylik said in the filing. “You can’t make decisions of $12 Million for the good of the citizens of Shenandoah and sit on both sides of the table.”
“And the present MABS board has not been executing appropriately and in conformity with the Municipal Authorities Act, that is in the best interest of the MABS customers,” Gawrylik wrote. “If this sale goes through in a way to combat debt, what happens in future years when we have no assets to sell. In land, water, and cell towers, all of our revenues are gone forever.”
She asked the PUC and Office of Consumer Advocate to “assist and represent the citizens of Shenandoah.”
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