Lower Makefield, Aqua PA, cross the finish line

Lower Makefield Township has crossed the finish line on the sale of its sewer system to Aqua Pennsylvania.
After the March 4 formal closing on the deal and the paying off of some significant debt from the proceeds of the transaction, the township will net $21.6 million from the $53 million sale, Manager Kurt Ferguson said.
In addition, he said Lower Makefield will soon get $1.3 million in interest drawn from investing the $27 million from sale proceeds being used to pay off sewer system debt and debt on the township-owned Makefield Highlands Golf Club.
Ferguson explained that the $27 million has been placed into accounts that will automatically make payments on the sewer system and golf course bonds until they are paid off. The total of $1.3 million in interest the $27 million will generate during that time will be paid to the township up front in the next week or so, he added.
The Lower Makefield supervisors voted to sell the sewer system in August of 2020 and the township received a $3 million deposit from Aqua Pennsylvania in December of that year. The Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission approved the sale earlier this year.

Ferguson said the supervisors will soon start discussing publicly potential uses for the net proceeds from the sale. He added that the $1.3 million the township will be getting in interest is the same amount as this year’s golf course bond payment the township would have had to pay with other funds had it not sold the sewer system.
Aqua Pennsylvania officials said they are looking forward to operating the system, which has 11,000 customers, mostly in Lower Makefield but also some in Middletown and Falls townships and Yardley Borough.
The company is planning to invest $10 million in infrastructure improvements over the first 10 years.
“The Aqua Pennsylvania team and I are committed to delivering excellent customer service to the residents of Lower Makefield Township and are already hard at work on plans which will improve services and avoid the environmental impact from sanitary sewer overflows,” company President Marc Lucca said in a news release.
Aqua Pennsylvania serves about 1.5 million people throughout the state with water and/or sanitary sewer service.

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