The Hopewell Township Committee unanimously voted to adopted a $650,000 bond ordinance to finance the dredging of the Hiohela Pond.
The dredging project of Hiohela (Pennytown) Pond in Hopewell Township near Route 31 will include dredging, removal, and disposal of debris at the pond, according to the ordinance.
Mayor Julie Blake, Deputy Mayor Courtney Peters-Manning and Township Committee members, Kristin McLaughlin, Michael Ruger and Kevin Kuchinski voted “yes” to adopt the bond ordinance for the dredging, which is the process of removing sand, silt and debris from gradually filling the bottom of water bodies, at the Township Committee meeting on Dec. 20.
“The Hiohela Pond is a big part of our fire suppression plan for the town and the community Fire Departments find that this pond particularly has great access and egress to supply water and fire suppression,” Blake said. “It is an important part of our town as part of Pennytown, but it belongs to all of us. So we felt that this was an important project.”
The project started in 2019 when the Township Committee had previously adopted an initial bond ordinance for $120,000 for the planning and design for the dredging of the Hiohela Pond. The bond ordinance recently adopted allows for supplemental funding of $650,000 to go towards construction, permitting, and oversight of the dredging project.
“This bond ordinance authorizes the Township Committee to borrow up to the amount of $770,000,” Township CFO Julie Troutman said. “This allows us to borrow up to that amount, but does not tie us to that amount if the project comes in under that, we do not need to borrow that amount if it comes in lower.”
The ordinance finances the project’s soil remediation, site work, professional, preparation of plans, permits, construction observation, professional and engineering services for planning and design, and bid documents.