Sponsorships available for reservoir landscape items

Public can have names engraved in path bricks, benches and light fixtures

By karl vilacoba
Staff Writer

By karl vilacoba
Staff Writer


FILE PHOTO When construction is complete, the Brick Township Municipal Utilities Authority reservoir site, Sally Ike and Herbertsville roads, will be surrounded by two pathways and a park-like setting.FILE PHOTO When construction is complete, the Brick Township Municipal Utilities Authority reservoir site, Sally Ike and Herbertsville roads, will be surrounded by two pathways and a park-like setting.

BRICK –– The public can cement its legacy in Brick in brick.

Residents, local businesses and corporations are invited to sponsor sections of the recreation and landscape design at Brick’s future pumped-storage reservoir. The campaign is being run by the Brick Township Municipal Utilities Authority (BTMUA), the agency overseeing the man-made water body’s construction.

Sponsors can order their names or messages engraved on plaques attached to the items, or leave them blank if preferred.

The BTMUA’s design for the reservoir aims for a "classic park-like setting similar to turn-of-the-century parks in some of America’s older cities," according to BTMUA Executive Director Kevin Donald.


A few sample paver bricks on www.brickmua.com that are available for business and private sponsorships.A few sample paver bricks on www.brickmua.com that are available for business and private sponsorships.

Plans call for a 1.5-mile walking path to wind around the reservoir’s banks. A 2-mile jogging path will run parallel with the walking path in some parts and will snake through the property’s woods in other sections. Gardens of rhododendrons, azaleas, butterfly bushes, several trees and flowers will be planted along the paths.

In addition, four gazebos, lots of benches and two 40-by-100-foot fishing stations will be placed along the reservoir’s landscape.

All of these items –– gazebos and fishing stations included –– are up for sponsorship.

According to an application form posted on www.brickmua.com, 4-by-8-inch paver bricks cost $35 each; 8-by-8-inch bricks cost $50 each; and 12-by-12-inch bricks cost $75 each.

Park bench and lighting fixture sponsorships are selling for $1,500 apiece. But for those and other large items, sponsorship applications must be made in person at the BTMUA’s Route 88 complex to en­sure availability.

All items are available on a limited first-come, first-served basis. Interested parties may view sample products at the BTMUA complex.

The deadline to sponsor brick pavers, benches and lighting fixtures is Sept. 30.

The reservoir, under construction on a 120-acre tract on the Brick and Wall Township border, is due for completion in the spring. The billion-gallon reservoir will act as a backup source of drinking water for BTMUA customers in Brick and a few neighboring communities.

The BTMUA is scheduled to begin pumping overflow water from the Met­edeconk River through a 4.7-mile under­ground pipeline to the reservoir in the fall, according to the authority’s Web site.