Another Evesham Township Council meeting was held, and there was another motion to table the ordinances and resolutions that would start Evesham’s process of applying to the state for approval to dissolve the Evesham Municipal Utilities Authority.
At its Jan. 12 meeting, council voted to table three ordinances and two resolutions that would start the process by which it would seek approval from the Local Finance Board under the state Department of Community Affairs to dissolve the MUA and absorb the utility as a department under the municipality.
As it stands now, the MUA operates as an entity separate from the municipality, providing water and wastewater services to properties throughout town with funding collected directly from ratepayers.
Discussions on the potential dissolution of the MUA started several months ago when township manager Tom Czerniecki said MUA ratepayers could potentially realize a savings of $4.3 million over 10 years if the MUA’s debt was reissued as municipal debt.
Czerniecki also said about $9 million of ratepayer funds held in restricted reserves by the MUA for its $31 million in debt service would also be freed up if the municipality absorbed the entity, and no jobs would be lost in the process.
The Jan. 12 meeting marked the third since November where ordinances and resolutions related to the dissolution of the MUA were listed on council’s agenda and then tabled.
Municipal officials have said the delays have been necessary to allow more time to gather additional financial information, but several residents used the public comment portion of the Jan. 12 meeting to ask why MUA dissolution items keep appearing on agendas only to be tabled.
Resident Rosemary Bernardi described the situation as “a shame” since residents continue to attend council meeting believing they’ll have a chance to speak on the MUA dissolution, only to sit through meetings and have the items eventually tabled.
“This is, I believe, the third meeting they’ve been on the agenda and have been tabled, so it seems like a fire drill,” Bernardi said. “You put them out there, you get people to come out to the meetings, and yet they get tabled.”
Bernardi asked council if there was a way residents could know ahead of time if votes on the MUA dissolution would begin at a particular meeting.
Mayor Randy Brown countered Bernardi’s first point by noting that if a resident wants to speak regarding the MUA issue, they can do so at any council meeting during the portion for public comment.
As for meetings where actual votes will take place, Brown said that procedurally when council first votes on the MUA dissolution ordinances, those have to be followed by a public hearing and second vote at a separate meeting.
“That’d probably be the one I suggest them come to is when we have the public hearing, but they can come anytime they want and comment during agenda items or at the end,” Brown said.
Resident Ken Mills also spoke about the issue at the meeting, saying it “would be nice” if council would only put MUA dissolution items on the agenda when action would be taken.
Mills also said he had been attending MUA meetings, and while he didn’t agree with all of the MUA board’s decisions, he said he believed those on the MUA board dedicated a lot of their time to the MUA and questioned if council would physically have the time to do the same.
“I don’t know how you guys would be able to spend that much time to take over their duties, because they spend almost as much time as you guys do taking care of that,” Mills said.
No information was given at the council meeting if MUA dissolution ordinances and resolutions would appear on the agenda for the next council meeting or when council would vote on the items.
