By JACQUELINE DURETT
Correspondent
EDISON — Township officials are frustrated with utility companies not notifying residents about when they’re doing work that directly impacts them.
But at least one utility said it is fulfilling its obligations.
The issue came up last month during a Township Council meeting. Resident Maryann Hennessey said she read about pipe replacement work that Public Service Electric and Gas was doing in the area, but didn’t know where the project was taking place.
Engineer Mark Kataryniak said he didn’t have specifics, but his understanding was that the work was in a few different locations. He said PSE&G presented its plans to the Planning Board earlier this year, and the utility is supposed to put notices on affected residences.
“And we scolded them about not giving the residents proper notification,” said Councilman Leonard Sendelsky, who serves as the council’s liaison to the Planning Board. “Same thing with the water company. They have to put notices on the residences to give you advance notice that this is going to happen beforehand so you can make alternate arrangements if they’re closing your street.”
Kataryniak said PSE&G is also supposed to provide the township with maps it can post online.
Hennessy said she thought the council should be doing more when the utilities fail to live up their obligations.
“It’s nice to say, ‘We told them,’” she said, but emphasized that until the township started holding the utilities accountable, nothing was going to change.
However, PSE&G, which was not represented at the meeting, maintains that it is making proper notifications.
PSE&G spokeswoman Brooke Houston said the Gas System Modernization Program currently underway encompasses the replacement of 510 miles of old cast-iron mains during the next three years across the service area. That includes 2.5 miles in Edison.
“As promised, we did provide the town with maps of our 2.5 miles of replacements for the work under our Gas System Modernization Program that began in July,” Houston said.
At the meeting, Councilman Alvaro Gomez asked Kataryniak if there were any ordinances on the township books that could fine utilities when they fail to notify residents as promised.
Kataryniak said there wasn’t, and creating one wouldn’t do much good. “Typically they rise above ordinances anyway. They fall under the BPU (Board of Public Utilities). The ordinances really don’t take effect for the utility companies.”
Gomez then consulted Township Attorney Bill Northgrave to see if Edison had any legal options to “get their attention.”
“PSE&G is not the local liquor store,” Northgrave responded, adding that the BPU holds most of the power.
Councilman Robert Diehl said the lack of notification has been a common refrain from residents lately, particularly those in the Stephenville Parkway area. He said PSE&G’s power should not intimidate officials from requiring that a utility does what it is supposed to do, particularly since the utilities often need the cooperation of the township and the police department to do their work.
“If you’re coming into town and you’re going to do work, you have to be mindful of the residents and courteous of the residents and making sure that we’re giving them the information they need. He said the BPU needs to be notified that PSE&G is not fulfilling its obligations,” Diehl said.
However, PSE&G maintains that the notifications were done correctly for the Stephenville Parkway work. “The work on Stephenville Parkway and some surrounding streets was standard main replacement work. The area was served by low-pressure mains,” said Houston, who added that the work is complete, with final restoration scheduled to take place soon.
“Before we began the work, we went through the usual permitting process with the town, and then notified residents of the work one week prior to start, using door hangers with customer letters,” she said. Houston also explained that the Stephenville project was separate from the Gas System Modernization Program, so it was not captured on the maps provided.