On the agenda for the meeting of Ambler’s Borough Council on August 18th is an item that involves council move to have Ambler Borough Water Department operated by a new authority.

To achieve this, the borough filed an application of “abandonment of public water service,” which has to be approved by the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission and advertised a notice.

We asked Borough Manager Mary Avera to explain what this means. She shared:

Ambler Water operates under the jurisdiction of the Public Utilities Commission. The formal document that authorizes operations is called a Certificate of Public Convenience. Ambler wishes to have the water company operated by a newly formed water authority that includes board members from each township in the service area, and seeks a determination that the Authority operate outside PUC jurisdiction. The formal process for seeking that permission is called an application to abandon the certificate of public convenience. This is not an abandonment of water service, nor even a change to the service provided.

The water department services an area of 6.5 square miles, which includes Ambler Borough and portions of Lower Gwynedd, Upper Dublin, Whitemarsh, and Whitpain Townships.

Those who are not supportive can protest this application by contacting the PUC on or before August 24th. You can find details on how to do this here.