Board takes major step toward sale of MUA

BY ERIKA NORTON
WEST MILFORD — The West Milford Municipal Utilities Authority Board of Commissioners unanimously passed a resolution at their meeting Tuesday night, authorizing a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the sale of the MUA.
“The Board has come to the conclusion that for a variety of reasons (including the small customer base, the large debt load it carries, and the lack of sustainability of the facilities, among other reasons) it is warranted to determine if a larger, private sector enterprise would be better suited to handle the long-term needs of the MUA customers over the current stand-alone public entity structure,” the Board said in a statement.
Both the MUA and West Milford Mayor Bettina Bieri have discussed this possibility for many years, and Bieri said she is happy that the process is finally moving forward. The MUA has had a long history of failures environmentally, according to Bieri, and with regard to their infrastructure and their service to the residents.
The MUA commissioners who took office in 2011 have done a tremendous job in doing everything within their ability to make the MUA function at a better capacity, Bieri said. The problem is that the MUA is restricted financially and in their abilities due to the existing state of the infrastructure.
“Now that we actually have had commissioners in place who have done their jobs,” Bieri said, “and done it to the best of their ability and they still can’t get to a level of satisfaction for our residents, it's been my opinion that we need to sell the MUA.”

Impacts of a sale

By selling the MUA to a professional utility company with existing in-house engineers and operators, they would be able to take on a smaller plant like that of West Milford and incorporate the township’s 1,700 customers into their larger customer base, according to the mayor. They would also have a greater ability to provide capital improvements.
This decision to move toward a sale comes after weeks of water issues affected the Crescent Park residential community, where outdoor water restrictions still remain in effect. The Boil Water Advisory for the area was lifted on Monday.
However, Bieri noted on Wednesday night that the MUA sale and the Crescent Park issue are separate. The idea of selling the MUA has been discussed long before this current incident.
Councilwoman Michele Dale noted that there has been a lot of work done by the MUA, the mayor and herself as liaison to get to the this point, of issuing the RFP.
When asked whether a situation like the one in Crescent Park could be avoided with a professional company owning the MUA, Bieri said she feels a private company could address the problem faster and improve infrastructure, helping to avoid future issues.
“Residents could not expect a miracle overnight,” she said. “It would take time for the new company to come in and truly understand all of the issues and what the best approach is, but yes, in the long run I believe that major infrastructure improvements and capital improvements could be made by a professional company that simply can’t be done by the MUA.”

Moving in the right direction

The process before a final sale could take many months, according to the MUA, but a qualified private company is interested, and if the RFP is deemed acceptable and in the best interests of the customers, the board will move forward with the sale. Any proposal that might be accepted would have to be sufficient to pay off all of the MUA’s debt, Bieri said.
Councilman Lou Signorino said he hopes a sale is successful and it benefits the users. But, he added, “I’m a little skeptical,” noting the high cost of providing water to the 1,700 customers spread throughout the township and the aging infrastructure.
Dale said that the current board has done a commendable job after the MUA had been operating in the red.
“To this board's credit, they are now in the black and have done infrastructure updates,” Dale said.
“Nobody is making any promises,” Bieri said. “It's a step in the right direction and long overdue.”
Impact on customers’ rates and service levels cannot be determined at this time, according to the MUA, but in her conversations with potential buyers, Bieri said they did not expect water rates to go up if a sale occurs. Rates would be subject to NJ Board of Public Utilities review, according to the MUA.
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