ADAMS TWP — Adding further players to an already complex situation, West View Water Authority threw its hat into the ring of a discussion on the potential sale of the water authority of the township at a meeting Monday night.

Bob Christian, a representative from West View Water Authority, which provides the water source to the Municipal Water Authority of Adams Township, spoke at the meeting to request involvement in the potential of a sale of the water authority.

“I’m not sure where you are at with privatization, or if it is still being considered, but I wanted to offer a few points, in case in fact you are going down that path, still,” he said. “If you plan to go down the road (of a fair market evaluation,) I’m not sure how serious you are about this, but if you are, we would like to be a part of that.

“We would also like to make you an offer, if you truly want to get out of the water business. We are a very financially sound organization, and our plan is to be here for the region in the future.”

Though Christian expressed interest, solicitor Mike Gallagher said there is little new information about the ongoing evaluations of the water authority and Breakneck Creek Regional Authority by Pennsylvania American Water Company.

“We have nothing to report, we don’t have a report, we have nothing, and the ball is in their court,” Gallagher said in response to questions from the public.

At an Aug. 22 Adams Township meeting, chairman Russ Ford informed the public that Penn American had contacted him with a request to set up a meeting earlier that day to discuss the results of an ongoing evaluation of Breakneck Creek Regional Authority and the Municipal Water Authority of Adams Township.

“I was contacted probably the day after our last meeting, when we said that we were going to talk to you and I think we were aiming to (be) public,” Gallagher said at the Monday meeting. “We wanted to get it, the supervisors wanted to review it, (and) then ‘We were going to release it to you.’

“Pennsylvania American called the next day or the day after and said they wanted to regroup and ‘we’ll get back to you after Labor Day sometime.’ We haven’t heard anything.”

Supervisors in Adams and Mars, the two founding municipalities for the Breakneck authority, signed a confidentiality agreement earlier in the year, the first paragraph of which refers to Pennsylvania American Water Company’s “interest in discussing the potential acquisition of the wastewater system assets of the Breakneck Creek Regional Authority using the Act 12 fair market value approach.” The confidentiality agreement expired July 29 and was not renewed. Supervisors have maintained there is no agreement yet to sell either the water or sewer authorities.

At the meeting, while discussing his interest in the water authority, Christian vouched for the quality of West View Water’s service, and said that the West View Water Authority’s rates aren’t likely to be replicated by a private water company.

“Rates are another area that we definitely offer a lot of value in,” he said. “Right now, over 300,000 gallons, which is a fraction of a day in the township, you’re at our lowest rate structure, which is $5.09 per thousand gallons. You’re not going to get that with a private water company. Maybe year one, two, three, four... but in the future, your rates will go up significantly.”

West View Water Authority supplies water to 32 municipalities and more than 200,000 people in parts of Allegheny, Beaver and Butler counties.