Sen. Menendez

Henderson

DeMarcantonio

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TOWN BANK– Lower Township Municipal Utilities Authority (MUA) held a groundbreaking ceremony Tue., March 22 to mark the beginning of the Town Bank Water Main Project that will bring municipal water to 3,000 homes.

The ceremony was held outside the Cape May Beach Property Owners Association Clubhouse.

MUA Board Chairman Nels Johnson said the Lower MUA was awarded in $2.7 million in grants and $8.1 million in low interest loans from USDA Rural Development. New water mains will be installed to serve Town Bank, Cape May Beach and a portion of Villas.
He said residents relied on private wells that were plagued by contamination and salt intrusion. Johnson thanked Sen. Robert Menendez, who attended the ceremony and Sen. Frank Lautenberg for their efforts in securing the financing.

Lower Township Mayor Michael Beck praised Lower MUA Executive Director Mike DeMarcantonio for “bringing a sense of pride and fiscal responsibility” to the authority. He said it will never be known how many people avoided illness and cancer from drinking contaminated water due to the water main expansion.
Beck thanked former MUA Commissioner Steve Sheftz for bringing the Town Bank contamination problems to light

USDA Rural Development State Director Howard Henderson said the project was funded by federal stimulus money. He thanked Lower MUA board members, DeMarcantonio, and MUA Superintendent Matt Ecker for championing the effort as well as Beck and Lower Township Council.
Henderson said the Town Bank project was the second largest public water project ever financed by USDA Rural Development. He acknowledged Sen. Menendez for clarifying the definition of “rural” which made Lower Township eligible for the funding.

Menendez said one of the fundamental roles of government was to be certain “everyone has access to clean, potable water.”

“It is simply unacceptable that in New Jersey, in the greatest nation in the world, citizens don’t have access to that basic necessity,” he said. “Today, we are moving closer to providing that basic service.”

Menendez said in 2005, highly toxic contaminants were discovered in private wells potentially affecting more than 7,600 citizens. He said the project will immediately create construction jobs.

Marc DeBalsio, of Remington Vernick and Walberg, lead engineer for the project, said the project consisted of approximately 20 miles of water mains which will be the “back bone” of the system and will service about 1,600 properties. The project will be completed in four phases with the first phase now underway which includes about 5 miles of water main with a cost of about $2.2 million.

DeBlasio said the first phase should be completed by Pioneer Pipe within three to four months. Phases two, three and four will provide the water distribution system and delivery to homes, he said.
Phase Two should be out for bid by late fall and begin in March 2012. Phases Three and Four will follow with one phase per year with the possibility that two phases could be consolidated, said DeBlasio.

Local and state officials turned over shovels of dirt on the lawn of the property owner’s clubhouse followed by a similar photo opportunity by MUA officials and employees.