Public hearing in MABS sale could be held in July

SHENANDOAH – As the potential sale of the borough’s water company continues to wade through bureaucratic red tape, a public hearing appears likely this summer.

According to a prehearing conference order filed Tuesday by Administrative Law Judge Jeffrey A. Watson, a public hearing will most likely take place on Friday, July 14.

Watson outlined a tentative schedule of proceedings for the matter, in which he said bolded dates were likely not negotiable. The hearing date was one of those dates.

In Nov. 2020, the borough approved selling the Municipal Authority of the Borough of Shenandoah (MABS) to Aqua Pennsylvania, one of the largest private water companies in the nation, for $12 Million, following two public hearings. Shenandoah would receive around half the sale price, after paying off MABS debt.

The matter is now before the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission, seeking regulatory approval.

A prehearing conference is scheduled for Tuesday, March 7.

Former MABS chairwoman Donna Gawrylik filed a formal protest to the sale last month, and at least five oppositions to the sale have been received by the PUC, according to their website. None of the oppositions are publicly available to read online.

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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