Ex-MABS chair files protest to sale
Gawrylik says sale not in public interest, cites opposition of town’s largest employer
SHENANDOAH – Donna Gawrylik, former chairperson of the Municipal Authority of the Borough of Shenandoah (MABS), filed a formal protest with the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission (PUC) against the proposed sale of the authority this month.
In a letter dated Jan. 17, made public by the PUC Wednesday, Gawrylik contends the sale “is not in the public interest.”
“Many people are against the sale of MABS to Aqua,” Gawrylik wrote.
The borough approved selling the authority to Aqua Pennsylvania, one of the largest private water companies in the nation, for $12 Million, following two public hearings.
Gawrylik cited the opposition to the sale of Tom Twardzik, owner of Ateeco, Inc., Shenandoah’s largest employer and the 30th largest employer in Schuylkill County, as well as two petitions presented to council. Ateeco is also MABS largest industrial customer.
She told the regulators that one petition garnered 247 signatures, asking the borough to place the sale on the ballot, and another with 147 signatures asked the borough to reconsider the sale. Both petitions were not accepted by council, Gawrylik said.
Gawrylik also noted the MABS board’s own opposition to the sale and its retention of a law firm to investigate the matter. The board voted 4-0 at the time, with Leo Pietkiewicz recusing himself.
Since then, she said, members who voted against the sale were replaced on the MABS board “even when more [qualified] applicants were rejected.”
She added that she believes Pietkiewicz’s presence on both borough council and the MABS board is a conflict of interest.
Another issue Gawrylik brought up was the purchase price. She contends the purchase price of $12 Million “does not reflect the true value of the assets of MABS,” and cited the utility valuations conducted by both MABS and Aqua and filed with the PUC. Aqua’s appraisal placed the value of MABS at $25 Million and MABS’s was at $18 Million.
She also proposed the sale of MABS water to Niagara Bottling, which recently opened a plant in the Humboldt Industrial Park in Hazle Township.
“This would be a positive amount of income for MABS and we can save our water company,” Gawrylik told the PUC.
She also cited concerns that the letter sent to MABS customers in early January was only sent out in English and not Spanish, despite a 30% “non-white” population, she said.
As for rate increases, she told the PUC “Either way, our rates will go up with Aqua or without. But we need to keep our system that we have. Too many times, small companies, in this case, are taken over by large corporations.”
Gawrylik, in her PUC filing, attached at Nov. 25, 2020 letter from Twardzik to borough council, asking council to vote against the sale and “allow it to continue to run independently.”
“From information provided at the meetings I attended, it appears that MABS is currently in position to effectively run the system and increase rates to fund and manage the ongoing maintenance and improvements of the necessary infrastructure for the future,” Twardzik wrote. “As always, the rate payers will have to pay for all maintenance and improvements to the system.”
“As the Water Authority’s largest single industrial customer, I am sure a requisite burden of increased rates will have to be borne by Ateeco and its consumers, whether it be through our independent Authority or a for-profit public utility company,” Twardzik continued. “By remaining independent, however, we retain ownership and control of a critical natural resource for our service community.”
“Once sold, it is lost forever and there is no recourse against the new owner,” Twardzik added.
“Please retain Shenandoah’s private ownership of its water resources and demand sound management by appointing sound members, attending Authority meetings, and asking the necessary questions of the Board at their meetings,” Twardzik concluded. “Selling is abdication, not management.”
Twardzik was vocal at MABS and borough council meetings and public hearings leading up to the sale, expressing “grave concerns” at a March 2020 MABS meeting.
As of Wednesday, at least four oppositions were received by the PUC according to their website. The details of those oppositions are not publicly available through that website.
The Shenandoah Sentinel has been the only local news source providing full, in-depth coverage of the proposed MABS Sale. If the coverage of this and other important news items in Shenandoah and all of northern Schuylkill County is important to you, please consider donating a few dollars a month through Patreon.
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