Breakneck Sewer Authority Leaders Say It Will Not Be Sold if Mars–Adams Merger Passes

A proposed merger between Mars Borough and Adams Township has raised questions about the future of the Breakneck Creek Regional Authority, the sewer authority that the two municipalities jointly established.

Mike Fleming, president of Mars Borough Council and a member of the sewer authority board, and David Goodworth, an Adams Township representative on the authority board, gave the same answer in separate interviews: They have no plans to sell it.

“It’s not for sale,” Goodworth said. “That’s never come up for discussion.”

A partnership dating to 1989

According to Fleming, Mars had its own sewage treatment plant near the end of Clay Avenue before the authority was formed in 1989. The aging plant needed to be replaced, while Adams Township needed a sewer system to accommodate future growth.

The two municipalities jointly financed a new treatment plant. Adams assumed 65% of the original debt obligation and Mars assumed 35%, Fleming said. The authority connected Mars’s existing collection system to the new plant, then expanded as development spread through the area.

Developers generally paid to extend sewer lines to their projects, Fleming said. Once the lines were inspected and transferred to the authority, it took responsibility for maintaining them.

Serving nine municipalities

The authority’s reach now extends well beyond the two municipalities considering a merger. According to authority manager Matthew Marasco, who provided written responses to The 228 Times, Breakneck serves approximately 10,000 customers across nine municipalities: Adams, Pine, Richland, Cranberry, Forward and Middlesex townships, and Mars, Seven Fields and Valencia boroughs. It serves all of Mars, Seven Fields and Valencia.

Adams Township accounts for 60% of the authority’s customer base, followed by Seven Fields at 13% and Mars at 11%, Marasco said. The remaining customers are in Pine, 6%; Valencia and Richland, 3% each; Cranberry, 2%; and Forward and Middlesex, 1% each. Those percentages describe the share of Breakneck’s customers in each municipality, rather than the portion of each municipality served.

Fleming separately estimated the system at about 12,000 equivalent dwelling units, a measure of sewer usage rather than a count of customer accounts, individual people or homes.

Marasco put the authority’s anticipated 2027 operating budget at approximately $4 million. He said planned work includes routine operations and maintenance, along with annually budgeted capital projects for the collection system and wastewater treatment plant.

Fleming and Goodworth both said the authority has no outstanding debt. Fleming also described it as having financial reserves and capacity for additional growth.

Breakneck Creek Regional Authority

What the merger would change

Today, Adams Township appoints three members to the authority’s five-member board, and Mars Borough appoints two. If voters approve the merger, the governing body of the new municipality would make future appointments, Fleming and Goodworth said.

Fleming said current authority members would finish their terms, with future reappointments decided by the new governing body. Goodworth said the board’s terms are staggered. Neither described an expected change to the authority’s daily operations or a plan to sell its facilities.

“We provide a great service at a very competitive price, and the intention is to keep it that way,” Goodworth said.

Fleming said the authority would continue maintaining its system and could extend service where new development is close to existing sewer lines.

Fleming said the authority’s value and rates make preserving local ownership a priority for him. Its service agreements and decisions also affect customers outside the two municipalities voting on the merger.

“We want to protect that equity and that rate structure for generations to come,” he said. Fleming said the merger is intended in part to keep the authority under local control. “Nothing is for sale,” he said.