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Southwestern in ‘preliminary discussions’ to acquire Dunkard Valley

3 min read
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The Southwestern Pennsylvania Water Authority is in preliminary discussions with Dunkard Valley about possibly absorbing the smaller water authority and its customers.

A workshop between both sides was held Thursday morning during Dunkard Valley’s board meeting in Greensboro, although Charles Mallory, the municipal authority’s board president, said no decision has been made on the potential acquisition.

Mallory said they had previous meetings and they are only in “preliminary discussions” to determine if the acquisition is feasible before revealing more information to customers at a future public hearing.

The workshop meeting came as Greene County commissioners voted to loan Monongahela Township more than $281,000 from Act 13 drilling money to front the township as it prepares to work with Southwestern to draft an engineering application to take over services.

“We were glad to know there was interest from Southwestern because they’re not that far away,” Monongahela Board of Supervisors Chairman Bill Monahan said after Thursday’s commissioners meeting.

Monahan said the cost of the engineering application is about $700,000 – half of which is to be paid by Southwestern – although all of that money would likely be reimbursed in the form of a PennVEST grant.

Dunkard Valley serves about 370 customers in Monongahela Township and another 120 in Greensboro. All them would be moved over to Southwestern if the acquisition takes place, Monahan said.

Monahan said changes are needed due to Dunkard Valley’s aging infrastructure in which he counted at least 50 pipeline breaks during winter 2013. He said those issues dissuaded one residential developer from Morgantown, W.Va., who was briefly interested in building housing in the township.

“We want to see our community grow,” he said. “We’re hoping an agreement will be reached soon so the community can move forward.”

The discussions come less than a year after a similar acquisition plan by East Dunkard Water Authority was nixed. Mallory said meetings with Pennsylvania American Water Authority went nowhere.

Greene County Chief Clerk Jeff Marshall said the county is not involved in the discussions and that the loan for the Act 13 money is just a backstop to help with the application process. That money would be paid back through the PennVEST loan if is used for the engineering application.

“We know there is a water issue out there and there has been a water issue for years,” Marshall said. “This is our attempt to help them improve that water system.”

The county commissioners also approved a motion Thursday extending a 2011 Community Development Block Grant of $281,000 that can now be used to update water meters in the Monongahela Township that would make a merger easier and less costly for Southwestern.

“It will allows us to update the systems and move our community forward to hopefully attract new businesses and maybe bring new residents into the township,” Monahan said.

It was not known what other infrastructure improvements would be needed or how the systems would be connected.

Southwestern Manager John Goulding could not be reached for comment on the negotiations.

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