Court Gives Newtown Municipal Authority Permission To Sell Sewer Plant Site

NEWTOWN, PA — A judge has given the Newtown, Bucks County Joint Municipal Authority permission to list and sell a 17.5-acre property on Lower Silver Lake Road, originally proposed for a future sewer treatment plant.

The authority’s solicitor made the announcement at its May meeting, noting that the authority had already received an offer for the property.

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Following a lengthy executive session, the authority tabled an agreement to sell the land or to consider a letter of intent regarding the sale of the property.

Still pending before the court is a motion by the authority to quash a request for damages from the former owners. The court has asked the authority to file a supplemental memorandum of law and paperwork for the judge to review.

The authority said it condemned the property with the idea of building a sewer plant at the site to contain spiraling sewer rate hikes, which are forecast to impact its ratepayers well into the future as a wholesale customer of the Bucks County Water & Sewer Authority.

Residents living near the site of the treatment plant in neighboring Middletown Township, however, protested plans for the plant, eventually forcing the authority to halt work on the proposed facility a year ago. The authority eventually dropped its plans altogether after it lost the support of the Newtown Township Board of Supervisors.

Under the eminent domain law, the authority was obligated to offer the land back to the original owners for $11.5 million, the price the authority paid to acquire the land. The former owners had 90 days to respond to the authority's offer, which expired without a response, the authority confirmed this week.

During public comment at the May sewer authority meeting, former supervisor John Mack asked the authority if it would be required to accept the highest bid and whether the proceeds from any sale would be used to reduce a rate increase imposed on the authority’s ratepayers.

“Twenty-six percent out of the 46 percent rate increase was used exclusively to cover the loan,” said Mack. “If the land is sold, is there any rescinding of the rate increase depending upon what the authority is able to get for the land?”

At previous meetings, Mack said he'd like to see the land remain as open space and be donated to the township.

"Rather than selling the land to developers, the Authority should donate the property to the township so it can be preserved permanently as open space," he said. He suggested the authority donate the land to the township for $1 with the stipulation that it never be developed.

Others, however, have asked the authority to sell the land and to use the proceeds to reduce rates accordingly.

After acquiring the land, the authority raised rates by 47 percent, 26 percent of which was to fund the acquisition of the property.

The board, which is made up of appointed representatives from Newtown Borough and Newtown Township, has not made any decisions regarding the disposition of land or what it would do with the proceeds from a sale of the property.

The property had initially been proposed by KRE for a 245-unit apartment building complex. KRE was in the process of challenging the validity of the township’s zoning ordinance when the authority began condemnation proceedings to acquire the property.

The Newtown, Bucks County Joint Municipal Authority (NBCJMA) serves 9,000 sanitary sewer customers in Newtown Township and Newtown Borough. The system consists of 101 miles of gravity sewers, 2,630 manholes and eight metering sites. It maintains five wastewater pumping stations and more than 50 easements.