Chester receiver Michael Doweary’s plan to sell the city’s water assets to pull itself out of bankruptcy is facing resistance, writes Anthony R. Wood for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The plan, filed Aug. 26 in US Bankruptcy Court, would grant a third party the ability to acquire, manage or operate the assets of the Chester Water Authority, the Chester Stormwater Authority and the city’s sewer assets in DELCORA.

From that arrangement, the city’s goal would be to receive annual revenue that could allow Chester to restructure its pension debt and maintain residential services.

The Chester Water Authority, and its nine-member board, serves 34 towns in Chester and Delaware Counties The plan would end the Authority’s “legal existence.”

The CWA is fighting the receiver’s plan, said its attorney, Francis J. Catania. 

Catania argued the receiver can’t sell the Water Authority’s assets because it doesn’t own them.

 “They claim all sorts of power, all of which has been false,” he said.

Vijay Kapoor, the receiver’s chief of staff, said a 2021 Commonwealth Court majority decision stated the city had “unfettered power to transfer the authority and all its assets.”

That decision is under appeal in the state Supreme Court.

Read more about reaction to the Chester water assets plan in The Philadelphia Inquirer.