BORDENTOWN: Water rate rains issues

By David Kilby, Special Writer
   BORDENTOWN — The city and township are working together to try and offset the upcoming 20 percent water rate increase anticipated to be implemented in February.
   The increase, due partly to the expected closure of the Ocean Spray plant — scheduled to leave the city next fall — as well as to cover the costs of upkeep to the city’s water utility plant — will be an extra $12.58 per quarter for the average resident.
   Bordentown City owns the plant and provides water to city customers as well as to Bordentown Township and in bulk to Fieldsboro.
   City Mayor James Lynch explained at a recent Bordentown Township Committee meeting the complex, and sometimes contentious, issues surrounding the water rate increase.
   He said, in addition to the water utility debt service and the impact caused by the closure of the Ocean Spray plant, surpluses for the Bordentown Sewer Authority and water utility are decreasing.
   ”When times were good, the Sewer Authority generated surplus from connection fees,” he said.
   The Bordentown Sewer Authority is an independent body with three appointed members from both Bordentown Township and Bordentown City.
   Michael Dauber, Bordentown Township deputy mayor, said a person’s sewer bill is based on water usage, and when water usage goes down, there’s less sewage to process. He noted that, in all other cases, the Sewer Authority and the water utility are separate entities that function under separate budgets and different leadership bodies.
   ”In most towns, the water and sewer are the same, but in Bordentown, they’re separate,” Bordentown City Mayor Lynch said. “Water is like an asset that the city owns. The city could sell the water utility, which we have explored doing. It’s a very valuable asset to the city taxpayer. It’s a pretty big operation.”
   While both Bordentown City and Bordentown Township own the Sewer Authority, taxpayers pay for the system through a quarterly bill.
   On the other hand, the Bordentown City taxpayer owns the water utility, and Bordentown Township is a customer.
   Nonetheless, the city can’t, nor would it, charge the township a different rate than its residents are paying, according to Mayor Lynch.
   ”We can’t sell them water higher than what we pay ourselves. If we have an increase in water, it has to be across the board and fair,” Mayor Lynch said.
   When the water utility has a surplus, it uses that surplus to help defray the water rate. Generally, the water utility inserts about $200,000 into the budget to keep the rates low, the mayor explained.
   The city also looks for ways to keep water utility repair expenses down.
   For example, Mayor Lynch said there was a leak in the water plant, causing it to lose up to 700,000 gallons a day, and that leak would have taken $600,000 to repair if it were not for Commissioner Zigmont Targonski, director of Public Works and water for the city.
   ”We were almost scheduled to have a repair done where the leak was,” Mayor Lynch recalled.
   But then Mr. Targonski took a walk into the woods with his team, found the leak, and they fixed it themselves for few thousand dollars, the mayor said.
   For Mr. Targonski, the state of the water plant is more important than the closure of the Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc. facility.
   ”You can’t be playing around with whether or not it’s going to function day to day,” Mr. Targonski said. “The equipment has held up very well over the years. We’re approaching the time when it needs to be replaced. You can’t wait until it all breaks down.
   ”That (water rate) increase is not just because Ocean Spray is going. Most is going to additional expenses.”
   Mr. Targonski said the cost in electricity is rising, and the plant needs constant maintenance and testing.
   He and his team are working on replacing the filter control system, which will cost between $450,000 and $480,000, Mr. Targonski said.
   But with all the projects the township has on the drawing board, the lost income from Ocean Spray should more than be made up, he added.
   ”The Waterfront Redevelopment Project alone will take up more water than what Ocean Spray used,” Mr. Targonski said. “And there are people looking at that (Ocean Spray) site. It may be a few years before something comes along, but, eventually, something will come back.”
   As for the water utility plant itself, “Now we really have to do something. That’s what our professionals say.”
   For Mr. Targonski and Mayor Lynch, it’s a matter of keeping the water rate low and the plant functional.
   ”We’re always looking out to keep expenses down,” Mayor Lynch said. “We’re very cautious of spending money.”
   As the city and township search for ways to offset the water bill increase, merging the Sewer Authority and water utility will be re-explored.
   ”Several years ago, there was a study done to see the feasibility of merging the water company and Sewage Authority under one authority,” Mr. Dauber wrote in an email to the Register-News. “Mayor Lynch agreed to revisit that study with the township, city and Bordentown Sewage Authority.”
   He added, “We also spoke about communication between us, and he agreed to form a commission with the township and city regarding water operations.”
   Also, while remaining optimistic, the Township Committee asked about a possible decrease in the water rate if Ocean Spray wound up leaving later than autumn 2013.
   ”If (Ocean Spray) doesn’t leave, there will be a larger than normal surplus, which may be a good thing for the future, however, in these challenging times the rate payer could use a break,” Mr. Dauber said.
   At last week’s Township Committee meeting, Bordentown Township Mayor Karl Feltes asked if the city’s Water Department could offer senior discounts or rate freezes, which Mayor Lynch agreed to explore.
   Mayor Lynch also agreed that he would look at a credit rebate to be issued to rate payers if the impending Ocean Spray plant closure is delayed.