Canonsburg-Houston Joint Sewer Authority takes first steps in potential sale
Observer-Reporter
The Canonsburg-Houston Joint Authority sewage treatment plant
A Google Earth view of the Canonsburg-Houston Joint Authority plant from 2016
Plans to sell the Canonsburg-Houston Joint Sewer Authority are in place.
Last Thursday, the authority board voted 3-2 to move forward with plans to sell the Canonsburg-Houston Joint Sewer Authority to the company Aqua, for $145 million.
Earlier this year, Pennsylvania American Water Company expressed interest in purchasing the authority, said Canonsburg borough council president Eric Chandler. The authority solicited bids, and received two: one from PA American Water and another from Aqua, a water company that serves more than 3 million people in eight states, including Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina and Pennsylvania.
Aqua offered the “best and final bid,” Chandler said, and last Thursday the sewer authority took the first step in the sales process with its vote to sell.
“It’s not just we say yes. It goes through the process. Canonsburg has to vote. Houston has to vote. Then the upstream communities – North Strabane, Cecil and Chartiers – also have to be OK with the service agreement,” Chandler said.
Next week, Houston Borough will vote on the sewer authority sale during its regular monthly meeting. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. Nov. 8 in the borough building at 42 Western Ave.
Canonsburg borough council will discuss the sale during its agenda meeting Nov. 6. Council will vote on the sale during its regular monthly meeting Nov. 13. Both meetings begin at 6:30 p.m. and will be held at the borough building, 68 E. Pike St.
If both boroughs and the upstream communities, which are serviced by the authority, agree to move forward with the sale, hearings will be held and the sale must be approved by the state’s Public Utility Commission before it can be finalized.
The process could take two years.
Selling the Canonsburg-Houston Joint Sewer Authority, which has serviced the area for approximately 60 years, would generate revenue for both Canonsburg and Houston boroughs (Canonsburg owns 88% of the authority, while Houston owns 12%). It could also lead to increased rates, Chandler said, adding the rate increase is unavoidable.
“It’s a lot of money that the borough could use. We’re talking about setting up, generationally, Canonsburg,” Chandler said. “Whether the plant is sold or not, rates are going to go up. The question’s how much, how significantly will rates go up?”
Chandler has mixed emotions about the sale, he said, but “whatever we decide, whether we sell it or not, we just continue to move forward to make Canonsburg a great tourist destination.”