AFTER NO City Council member introduced Mayor Nutter's
proposal to sell the Philadelphia Gas Works yesterday, Council President
Darrell Clarke stressed that he never asked his colleagues not to introduce the
bill.
But they got the memo anyway - because Clarke sent it to
them the night before.
Clarke on Wednesday sent a letter to all members expressing
concerns over a provision in the PGW legislation that he believes could end up
tying Council's hands if it introduces the bill too soon.
"There is a provision that establishes a time line with
the Public Utility Commission . . . [the administration's bill] would trigger a
time line that would start the clock ticking on PUC's process," Clarke
said yesterday after the meeting.
Language in the asset-purchase agreement requires that documentation
be given to the PUC within 60 days of the introduction of the bill. Clarke said
that raises concerns that the PUC could reach a conclusion before Council does,
thus hampering Council's ability to have a say in the proposed sale.
"We have told the administration that we will do our
due diligence, review their proposal, and at the appropriate time we'll make
the decision on the time line that will be established for this process,"
he said.
"Nowhere in that conversation is there discussion about
a PUC decision. There are concerns that PUC may come to a conclusion prior to
Council's deliberation that could be totally different than what we end up
with."
Some Council members are calling Nutter's bill a sneaky
move.
"So PUC, according to this agreement, would be dealing
with this agreement and this agreement only, despite what Council may think
about it or what may change, which leads me to believe this administration is
not playing open and fair with the information they are supposed to be
providing us now," Councilman Jim Kenney said.
"Now that the opportunity finally comes to do an open
and public discussion, that [PUC] provision is buried somewhere deep in the
agreement so that we really have nothing to say at all in the end."
Nutter spokesman Mark McDonald said that the mayor has kept
nothing about the sale of PGW close to the vest.
"We've sent voluminous amounts of information regarding
the deal to Council and that information is now available to undertake the
kinds of tests and questions and analysis it wants to do. From our perspective,
we've moved the ball forward," he said.
Dan Clearfield, a lawyer representing the PUC, said that it
generally takes about nine or 10 months for the commission to make a
determination on an asset-purchase agreement, especially one of this magnitude.
"The filing of the application in April really starts
the clock," he told the Daily News. "It's very typical in a process
like this to have modifications to the application and changes in the terms of
the deal."
Nutter wants to sell PGW to a Connecticut firm, UIL Holdings
Corp., for $1.86 billion. Council is paying the Massachusetts-based Concentric
Energy Advisors roughly $425,000 to review the transaction.
Source: Philly.com
Philadelphia Navy Yard unveils its first hotel
The Philadelphia Navy Yard’s quest to become a full-service
business park is one step closer.
Officials unveiled the 172-room Courtyard by Marriott, the
first hotel for the Navy Yard. It includes 1,800 square feet of meeting space
and The Bistro-Eat Drink Connect restaurant and bar, as well as a Starbucks.
The 1,200-acre Navy Yard, which was transferred from the
Navy in 2000, has the corporate headquarters of retailer Urban Outfitters
(NASDAQ: URBN), the U.S. headquarters for pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline
and the primary baking facilities for Tastykake.
For the opening of the hotel, Mayor Michael Nutter, was
joined by Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp. CEO John Grady, David
Marriott of Marriott International Inc. and others.
The hotel, which is at 1001 Intrepid Ave., is owned by
Ensemble Hotel Partners and is managed by Marriott International (NASDAQ: MAR),
which has 3,800 properties in 72 countries.
Source: Philadelphia
Business Journal
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