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Chester City Council’s appointed receiver Michael Doweary wants to monetize the bankrupt city’s water resources to offset budget deficits.

“The City of Chester must monetize to avoid drastic cuts to pension benefits and city services,” said Vijay Kapoor, chief of staff to the receiver.

Doweary filed a reorganization plan in federal bankruptcy court Monday afternoon. If Judge Ashely M. Chan approves the document, the city will issue a request for proposals for an outside vendor to manage the Chester Water Authority (CWA), the Stormwater Authority for the City of Chester (SAC) and the city’s reversionary right to the Delaware County Regional Water Quality Control Authority (DELCORA).

Kapoor said there was one important caveat: The water utilities must remain publicly owned. Outside providers would provide the city with annual revenue through ongoing operations.

“We think it’s important to make clear that the outcome of this process would be to keep the system in public hands,” Kapoor said. “Other points that the receiver would really want to encourage in proposals would be to preserve public sector jobs, minimize impacts on ratepayers and also provide a potential regional approach to stormwater management that could help other communities that volunteer to participate.”

The adjustment plan calls for the termination of the “legal existence” of CWA and SAC and the dissolution of their boards. Dr. Horace Strand, executive director of SAC, declined to comment. Noël Brandon, chairman of the board of CWA, told WHYY News in an email that he was “deeply troubled by the City of Chester’s proposed adjustment plan.”

“The city’s attempt to withdraw funds from CWA to remedy its insolvency situation is viewed as a betrayal of CWA’s goodwill and the legality of this move raises significant doubts,” Brandon said.

In a subsequent phone call, Brandon declined to comment on whether the CWA would take legal action.

“CWA will continue to fight with all its might to ensure that our taxpayers are not disadvantaged,” Brandon said. “So we will not simply give up.”

Representatives of DELCORA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“We believe the city has the right to do this – that the receiver has the right to do this and really needs to move forward regardless of any obstacles that may arise,” Kapoor said.