Muhlenberg officials consider dissolving the township authority

Oct. 3—The Muhlenberg Township Commissioners are considering dissolving the Muhlenberg Township Authority following what commissioners say are a pattern of issues with the authority's handling of long-term maintenance planning, resource management and communication with the public.

The authority provides water and sewer services to Muhlenberg's 9,200 residents. It operates about 200 miles of water and sewer mains and manages 4.5 million gallons of water storage capacity.

Township officials said the issues were apparent after a water main break along Reading Crest Avenue following severe flooding on July 9 that resulted in partial or complete water service interruptions for roughly half of the township.

"A lot of the issue was lack of communication ... we went a substantial amount of time without having any correspondence with the authority in regard to what was going on," said Jim Bobeck, township manager. "The entire side of the township west of Route 61 was without water for several days."

Commissioners voted unanimously Sept. 18 to advertise an ordinance to terminate the authority and acquire all of its projects.

"The residents and business community were quite upset (after July 9) ... when you're running a business or a home, you need to know whether to boil water or not to," Michael Malinowski, commissioners chairman, said of the authority's response, "One of the major items was a communication plan, and (the board) didn't really see any action on that."

Township officials noted the ordinance is not an obligation to dissolve the authority, and the ultimate decision has yet to be made.

Authority pushes back

Authority officials have since pushed back on township officials' concerns, asserting that the attempt to dissolve it amounts to a hostile takeover by the township, and claiming that the township has repeatedly ignored the authority officials' attempts to meet with commissioners.

"We've been hearing the threat of ... being taken over by the township and having a third party coming in and running it for years," said Scott Lehr, authority board chairman.

He said the authority has noted issues internally with communication since another water main break in November and is implementing a plan to modernize services, including customer service and communications.

"Could there have been better communications? Absolutely," Lehr said. "But the twist of our performance issues leading to the need for a dissolution of (the authority) just doesn't carry with the facts."

Authority officials noted that Muhlenberg's water rates are the second lowest in Berks County, and that sewer and water rates have not been raised since 2016 and 2018, respectively.

Township officials said that if the board does dissolve the authority its operations and employees will be transitioned into the municipal government.

Malinowski said the township has no intention of increasing rates or selling off the authority's assets.

"We would try to utilize some of our expertise to help them ... just try to make (paying bills) an easier experience for residents and business owners," Malinowski said. "There is no plan to sell the system, there is no plan to terminate employees. It would be no different from our parks or police departments."

Other problems

Other problems with the authority have persisted, Malinowski said.

"We've continued to hear rumblings about the quality of service when folks pay bills, we have yet to see a robust maintenance plan, and financial stewardship, quite frankly," Malinowksi said. "We have questions why they have $70 million in the bank without a preventative maintenance schedule. We've seen no proposals as to how we're going to meet the needs of future water services as we grow. Those are the things the entire board is extremely concerned about, and we just don't seem to be getting answers."

He said township officials only recently made the decision to move forward with possibly dissolving the authority and he wasn't sure what the board's final decision would be.

"The unfortunate thing about the current situation is it (the authority) seems to have come combative instead of doing what's best for residents," Malinowksi said.

Lehr said authority officials addressed the board's concerns when they last formally met with township officials in June.

He said township officials at the time appeared to be satisfied with the authority's direction until after the July 9 flood and water main break, when the board voted July 17 to request that the authority board resign.

Improvement plan

Since then, Lehr said, additional changes have been implemented as part of an improvement plan, such as hiring a new general manager, putting in new computer systems and reviewing office services such as how the authority takes calls from the public.

He noted that a portion of the authority's reserve funds are being kept to pay Muhlenberg's portion of the costs of planned improvements to the Fritz Island wastewater treatment plant.

The plant is owned by Reading and processes sewage for the township.

Lehr also said the authority is willing to partner with the township to identify and help repair specific infrastructure issues leading to stormwater problems, although he noted that stormwater management is controlled by the township, not the authority.

"You look at areas of Hain Avenue, the Riverview Park area, north and south Temple Boulevard, these are areas that don't have stormwater drainage ... they need infrastructure development," Lehr said. "That's beyond our scope, but maybe there's some way we can partner."

The problem, according to Lehr, is that the township has refused to meet with the authority since June.

Bobeck said township officials are aware that the authority's solicitor has requested meetings.

"The board is having internal discussions but has not yet come to a conclusion regarding any future discussions (with the authority)," Bobeck said. "If the authority laid out a plan to improve deficiencies in operations, the township has not been provided any such plan."

Lehr noted he would prefer to see the vote to dissolve the authority left up to the public via a referendum.

"We run a really nice business for the residents," Lehr said. "We've had financial responsibility on a high level here. We've held rates for everybody. This (vote) should be something that should go in front of the public."

Malinowski said there has been no discussion by the board about placing a referendum on the ballot.

"The commissioners are the elected body, not the authority board, and will make the best decisions to protect our water system on behalf of our residents and business owners," Malinowski said. "This is not about politics and that is what I believe a referendum being pushed by the authority will ultimately lead to."

The board's next meeting is Oct. 16 at 6 p.m. Township officials said it remains unclear whether the board will hold a vote to dissolve the authority at that meeting or future meetings.