BY JOHN SNYDER
OF PASCACK PRESS
PARK RIDGE, N.J. —— The borough council has approved first readings of two ordinances that appropriate a combined $1 million on water and electricity infrastructure projects.
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One ordinance authorizes the replacement of the water main on Glen Road in Woodcliff Lake by and for the water utility of the Borough of Park Ridge, appropriating $800,000 to pay the cost and authorizing the issuance of bonds.
Another ordinance appropriates $200,000 from the electric utility reserve for electric distribution infrastructure materials.
One resident, David O’Sullivan, asked for indications of a multi-year infrastructure plan, particularly for water.
Mayor Keith Misciagna told him one exists and that the two men could review it with the director of operations of the Board of Public Works.
A third ordinance vacates a portion of Perry Street adjacent to Kinderkamack Road, re-conveying it to Park Ridge Transit, LLC.
Among the resolutions passed Nov. 28, the council agreed to appoint Julie Falkenstern to part-time borough administrator at $20,000 a year in addition to her exempt salary, with a meeting attendance stipend of $2,500 a year, effective Dec. 1
The council also authorized final payment to M.J. D’Arminio & Sons for Sulak Lane improvements, confirmed endorsement of Community Development Block Grant projects, set police reserve and Fire Department clothing allowances, and authorized a voucher for Borough Hall ADA improvements.
All votes were unanimous, with Councilmember Richard Bosi absent.
The mayor and council hold work sessions at Borough Hall on the fourth Tuesday of the month, and regular public meetings on the second Tuesday of the month, at 8:15 p.m.
Is $800K for water project ‘just the tip of the iceberg’?
According to borough Chief Financial Officer Joseph Kolodziej, the $800,000 bond will go to replacing a 2,500-foot length of failing water main on Glen Road in Woodcliff Lake.
He said the debt would be serviced by a capital fee Woodcliff Lake customers pay on their utility use.
“The utilities have funding in capital reserve set aside for this. We don’t know exactly what it’s going to cost but there is money set aside to pay the bond down,” Kolodziej said.
He explained the work will replace an 8-inch water main laid in the 1930s with a modern, 12-inch main and is a prudent step in advance of the county repaving that portion of the road in 2018.
He emphasized that the main “isn’t leaking, it’s failing.”
O’Sullivan took to the microphone to suggest that the problems could be more involved and costly than just a stretch of water main on one road.
“I guess my concern is the overall condition of the infrastructure within our town, both electric and water, though especially water, and what this means down the road if we have more failing mains—how much money we’re going to have to raise to correct all these issues,” he said.
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He worried the $800,000 was “just the tip of the iceberg.”
Misciagna replied that BPW Director of Operations William Beattie is keeping ahead of maintenance in the water system.
The department annually inspects hundreds of its approximately 3,000 valves “so he’s staying on top of it. I think they do have a plan and [the infrastructure] is getting older, though. You have mains from the 1920s and ‘30s. They don’t last forever,” Misciagna said.
O’Sullivan concurred, then asked for a prioritized plan for the infrastructure, “whether it’s a five-year plan, a 10-year, a 15-year capital plan that we’re going to have to put together, and what the costs are going to be.”
“Yeah, we could speak to Bill Beattie. They do have a plan. I’ll get you what exactly that is. If you like we can sit down with Bill,” Misciagna said.
Draft plan ‘hasn’t been
updated in years’
Asked for comment the next day, Beattie told Pascack Press that there is a draft long-range plan covering the water system from wells to facilities, though it hasn’t been updated in at least a couple of years and that he’d have to check with town counsel to see whether it could be shared.
“We have a feel for the system. From an operational standpoint it’s something we keep in mind. We’re not at the point where we have to do an extensive water main replacement or rehabilitation,” Beattie said.
The BPW does keep a copy of its April 2017 budget presentation on the town website, but Beattie said that anything more technically revealing would not be widely available, as it would present a security risk. He also clarified that age is not the only criteria deciding when a water main is in trouble. “Some of our oldest pipes are our most reliable pipes,” he said.
Beattie, a 30-year veteran of the department, said the water system suffers an estimated 20 water main breaks a year over its 50- to 60-mile span.
Other than at Glen Road in Woodcliff Lake, the town sees no other water main replacements on the horizon.
“We’re in pretty good shape. We’ve stayed on top of it over the years,” he said.
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