MILLTOWN — The painting of the borough’s water storage tank was a project that had been kicked down the road for about seven years.
Not anymore.
The Borough Council voted in favor of a bond ordinance last month that will provide for rehabilitation of the water storage tank and appropriate $1,450,000 for the much-needed work.
It was one of the projects that was mentioned by Mayor Eric Steeber in June as he discussed the importance of making crucial investments for the borough of approximately 7,000 or so residents.
Borough Engineer Michael McClelland said officials have already submitted a planning document for the first phase of the project to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
“The next phase is for Milltown to get its finance in place,” he said, explaining the approved bond ordinance is the next phase.
McClelland said with the persistence of Councilman Jerry Guthlein, a painting analysis is being done with the goal of prolonging the painting of the interior and exterior of the tank.
The borough engineer said the interior of the water tank has ladders and may not necessarily need to be painted, but blasted, which would save on painting costs.
McClelland said the water storage tank should be painted every 10-12 years. Guthlein said it has been a little over 20 years, well beyond that timeframe.
“We can try a better paint system,” Guthlein said. “There are good products out there now. … [We will continue to] look into it carefully.”
Contact Kathy Chang at [email protected].