The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court waded into the waters of a dispute between a county and the regional water authority it tried to dissolve. The major issue in this appeal was whether a municipality can exercise that statutory power after an authority acting pursuant to section 5607(d)(4) and (13) of the Municipality Authorities Act (MMA), entered a contract to sell its assets to a private third party. The issue arose specifically at a point where the obligations of the contract have not been fully performed, the contract is subject to a condition subsequent, the municipality arguably did not assume the obligations of the contract via an ordinance, and the municipality—disputedly—cannot fulfill the obligations of the authority in the event the municipality did assume the contract. The Commonwealth Court concluded that the municipality retained its statutory authority under section 5622(a) of the MAA, notwithstanding the authority’s exercise of power under section 5607(d)(4) and (13) of the MAA.
