Receiver Ignored Court Order and Had Secret Negotiations With Aqua over Attempted CWA Takeover
The Commonwealth appointed Receiver, Michael Doweary, appears to have ignored a Court Order issued on April 24, 2020, by Judge Angelos of the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas. That Order concluded that any transfer of CWA assets be conducted “in unison” by the three municipalities represented on the CWA Board, which are the City of Chester, Delaware County and Chester County.[i]
Emails recently obtained through the Right to Know Law show that Order was ignored and that the Receiver and City had secret discussions with Essential/Aqua’s CEO, Chris Franklin, and its counsel, about the sale of the CWA. Essential even sent the Receiver and Mayor a draft Asset Purchase Agreement. Essential and the Receiver excluded Delaware County and Chester County from these secret discussions, which only were discovered through right to know law requests.
In response to these emails being produced, the CWA Solicitor has posed several questions to the Receiver about the emails, which the Receiver has yet to answer. That letter, and the emails are posted below. The Receiver has publicly stated that “no decision has been made regarding the sale of the Chester Water Authority” yet the emails show this to be false. It is time that the Receiver and DCED answer the hard questions about their secret negotiations, and why those secret discussions contradict their public statements. Has Aqua paid the City of Chester the promised down payment? Why won’t the Receiver respond to the numerous questions raised?
