By Christina Whittington, Special Writer
BORDENTOWN CITY — Residents may soon see an increase of up to 20 percent in their water rates.
The rise in the city’s water rates is, in part, being attributed to the upcoming relocation of the city’s keystone plant, Ocean Spray, to the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania.
However, according to Bordentown City Commissioner Zigmont Targonski, who is also the director of Public Works and Parks and Property, the increase is due to a variety of factors, quintessentially including the modernization and upgrades to the municipality’s water plant.
”The plant is 40 years old, we got our money out of the plant,” Mr. Targonski said on Tuesday. “That plant is our sole source of water and people need water to live by,” he said, noting that upgrades to the water facility have included the rebuilding of its control system and the replacement of pump motors.
In fact, Bordentown City has not raised its water rates in years and, to date, the city has the fifth cheapest water rate in New Jersey, according to Mr. Targonski.
On Aug 13, the introduction and first reading of Ordinance 2012-11, a measure calling for a 20 percent water rate increase across the board, was passed during a Board of Commissioners meeting.
”The increase is around 20 percent in total regular charge and consumption charge for residences and businesses,” Mr. Targonski said. “Legislation that was passed in Trenton allows us to increase the rate with no charge as long as it is a 20 percent increase across the board to everyone.”
Last year, Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc. announced its plans to shut down its Bordentown City facility, located on East Park Street.
It will relocate its operations outside of New Jersey to Upper Macungie Township, Pennsylvania.
”(The) company needed a more efficient and modern Northeast manufacturing solution and conducted an evaluation of several capital investment options: renovate the aging Bordentown facility or relocate our Bordentown operations to a newly built facility in a more transportation-friendly location,” Erich Fritz, vice president of manufacturing at Ocean Spray, told the Register News on Tuesday.
”After careful analysis and consideration, the board decided to make a capital investment in relocating our Bordentown operations to a new facility in the Lehigh Valley . . . that will be completed by September of 2013,” Mr. Fritz stated.
He said. “The cost of continuing to do business in Bordentown was simply no longer practical, despite the talent, engagement, efforts and dedication of the 250 or so employees there. Renovating Bordentown would cost about the same as building new, but would only be a short-term fix, one that could not address all of the capability and capacity needs to meet our brand’s growing demands,” Mr. Fritz said.
He indicated to the Register-News that the decision to relocate the plant was not driven by tax issues or economic incentives.
”Officials represented New Jersey well throughout the decision-making process, but the reason for the decision (to relocate) was the need for a more efficient and modern facility in a transportation-friendly location. Tax issues did not drive the decision,” Mr. Fritz said.
In April, representatives from both Ocean Spray Cranberries and Pennsylvania’s Economic Development Agency took part in a groundbreaking ceremony for a new 315,000-square-foot plant in Macungie. It is anticipated that this facility will open in September 2013 and is expected to employ 165 workers. The facility will bottle Ocean Spray and Nestlé’s Juicy Juice products.
”According to records of the Water Collection Clerk, the usage charges for the Ocean Spray facility for 2011 were $498,216,” said Bordentown City Clerk Patricia Ryan, and municipal finance officer, on Wednesday.
As for the future of the Ocean Spray plant in Bordentown City, “There is a transition plan that includes the controlled start-up of the Lehigh Valley facility while the Bordentown plant is slowly shut down. That process will be underway during the fall of 2013,” Mr. Fritz said.
”We have over a year still to operate Bordentown as a key part of our manufacturing network so we’re laser focused on running the facility efficiently. What we do with the facility down the road is still to be determined,” he stated.
Mr. Fritz said that with the startup of the Lehigh Valley plant still a year away, it is too early to accurately estimate the number of employees who will relocate.
The Bordentown City facility uses approximately 700,000 gallons of water per day for processing beverages, Mr. Fritz told the Register-News.
The East Park Street facility, which has been a fixture in Bordentown City since 1943, is situated on 60 acres and comprises 500,000 square feet of manufacturing and warehouse space. It is among seven plants Ocean Spray, a Massachusetts-based company, uses for bottling its products.
According to Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc., “with nearly 300 non-union employees — averaging over 11 years of service — this exceptional (Bordentown City) facility runs six production lines 24 hours a day, seven days a week to produce 32 million cases of world famous Ocean Spray beverages every year.”
A similar situation occurred in Hightstown in 2003 when the Minute Maid plant, a division of Coca-Cola North America, which was located in the borough for almost 40 years, closed. When the plant shut down, the borough lost approximately $235,000 annually in water and sewer revenues.
The second reading and public hearing on Ordinance 2012-11 will take place at the next Bordentown City Commission meeting which is scheduled for 7 p.m. Sept. 10.
