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BLOOMINGDALE - Morse Lakes water main closer to reality
(by Deborah Walsh - Staff Writer - June 04, 2008)
BLOOMINGDALE - The long overdue water main project that will serve a substantial number of Morse Lakes residents who had contaminated wells came a step closer to reality recently when the Borough Council OK’ed a supplemental bond ordinance to pay for the improvements.
Borough Attorney Joseph MacMahon said that the council adopted a bond ordinance in May 2007 that provided $950,000 for the project, but the actual cost for the work is $1,110,000, which meant that a supplemental bond ordinance was needed to pay for the project. The borough received a $815,000 state grant for the work. The borough will have to pay for the project initially and be reimbursed with the state grant funding once the work is completed.
Mayor William Steenstra said the residents deserve to be connected to the public water system and that he was annoyed about the length of time it took the state to approve the project. Steenstra said he, Borough Administrator Ted Ehrenburg and Sen. Joseph Pennacchio (R-26) visited with state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) officials in an attempt to expedite the project.
"The residents deserve this project. The thing that angers me is it took so long to happen," said Steenstra.
Jonathan Dunleavy, who serves as the president of the Morse Lakes Property Owners Association, said the well contamination was discovered five years ago when a resident had a well tested in compliance with the NJ Private Well Testing Act.
The legislation requires that wells be tested for contamination when a property is sold. A concentration of tetrachloroethylene slightly over the five parts per billion limit established in the federal Safe Water Drinking Act of 1972 was detected. Tetrachloroethylene is a manufactured chemical used for dry cleaning. The DEP was contacted and 13 homes tested over the federal limit.
Dunleavy said the DEP paid for filtration systems for the homes with the contaminated wells, but determined that it would be more cost efficient to provide the residents with public water than to continue to monitor the filtration systems indefinitely. The location where the wells would be installed sits in an area that is protected from development under the Highlands Act, which caused a delay in the approval of the water main project, he indicated.
"The delay was caused by the Highlands Preservation Act. The law that is supposed to preserve land and help ensure clean drinking water has prevented us from getting clean drinking water. How dumb is that?" asked Dunleavy.
The DEP came up with a project area and about 40 homes will be provided with public water even though not all of the homes had contaminated wells. The Morse Lakes community consists of 123 homes, he said.
Noting that the project is projected to cost $1.1 million, yet the borough has only $815,000 in grant money, Ron Caputo of Bogue Drive asked if the balance would be paid by the residents who benefit from the project through an assessment program. Caputo asked if the borough was picking up the $300,000 tab for the cost that exceeds the grant money. Caputo said the borough did not pay for a water line project in his neighborhood.
Dunleavy said, however, that the DEP pledged to pay for the entire cost of the project. There is written documentation from the DEP, he said.
"The borough has written documentation from the DEP that the DEP will pay for it, soup to nuts," said Dunleavy. "There is documentation that there will be zero cost to the town and homeowner."
Dunleavy recommended that the borough’s engineer contact the DEP about the added cost of the project. Dunleavy said the new water line will serve homes located on Outlook, Sunset, Highland, Ridge and Sycamore streets. According to Dunleavy, the borough initiated the permit process in November of 2006. At the time properties were surveyed and test borings were dug to determine the location of the line.
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