SPOTSWOOD — Borough officials are looking to get the best price to replace the DeVoe Lake dock.
The Borough Council recently collected bids related to the dock replacement, but rejected an initial round at its Jan. 24 meeting due to an insufficient level of funding. The council will consider soliciting a new round of quotes.
Borough Business Administrator Ron Fasanello said the borough has approximately $30,000 in municipal and county funding set aside for the project. However, the five bids submitted ranged from $56,000 to nearly $100,000. He said the bid prices would likely come down if another round was solicited.
The project being bid on is strictly to improve the dock.
“We’re hoping that we can start moving along with this soon,” Council President Curt Stollen said last month. “But not much seems to move quickly with this project.”
Improvements to the dock and the surrounding area have been on the minds of Spotswood officials for years. The borough initiated the project in 2009, when Middlesex County awarded Spotswood with a grant to work on the area. An early plan proved too expensive, possessing significant engineering issues that would raise the borough’s share of the costs. Officials then developed a new plan to replace the makeshift walkway that borders the lake with a paved path. The walkway leads from the bridge near the American Legion building, along the dam and lake, and to the dock.
The wooden dock, which measures about 30-by-40 feet, will be repaired, improved and made handicap accessible.
The borough has also been looking to dredge the lake, and officials have been seeking out funding avenues for that initiative. The dredging, which has been on the wish lists of officials and residents for years, is necessary for aesthetic, flooding and public health purposes. In the summer, weeds grow out of control in an unsightly manner, and shallow depths cause horrific odors and an inability to absorb floodwaters.
The dredging project could cost over $1 million, which the borough would never be able to afford without assistance, Stollen has said .
The lake restoration has been at a standstill for severalmonths now, following an environmental analysis on the lake by CME Associates, who determined that the 38-acre body of water is littered with hazardous contaminants. With these pollutants, the soil could only be used for capping landfills.
Officials are still awaiting the results of a study funded with $500,000 in federal money and conducted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on flooding problems and potential flood-damage reduction efforts along the Manalapan and Matchaponix brooks in Monmouth andMiddlesex counties.
Stollen said the new study examines the long body of water that begins in Manalapan and empties into the South River. There are many areas where the water stagnates and collects, including DeVoe Lake, which is the first settling place along the stream. The results of the study, he said, could boost Spotswood’s chances to acquire federal, state or county funding for dredging and the removal of contaminated soils from the lake. However, the project has been moving slowly, and Stollen said he was not sure when more progress will be made.