Mt. Penn, Pa. – A disagreement started over negotiations involving the sale and leaseback of Mount Penn’s water system.
Borough Manager Hunter Ahrens says borough officials thought they had a deal, but when the Water Authority rejected it, the council started taking steps to move forward with creating a new water authority.
“They rejected that deal after we had approved it, so at this point, we don’t believe that there’s anything to negotiate about because it seems that the authority is not going to be a partner in anything that we can accept,” said Ahrens.
The Water Authority, however, sees it differently. Chairman Joe Boyle says the borough stopped negotiating in good faith and instead began working to dissolve the authority.
Borough officials say they have the right to transfer ownership and take back assets. Sharing that if this fight goes to court, the entire community will be paying for it.
Ahrens assures customers that no matter what, people’s water will stay on.
“…It’s at court because the authority doesn’t want to comply with the Municipal Authorities act,” said Ahrens.
The special meeting is planned for 7 p.m. tonight to decide whether the water authority wants to take this issue to court, and what that means for water systems.