VILLAS – The Lower Township Municipal Utilities Authority is planning to replace 136,000 linear feet of water mains, starting with the oldest section in the township in the southwest corner of North Cape May.
The Township Council agreed at its July 21 meeting to the issuance of $7.3 million in bonds for improvements to the North Cape May Water Distribution System in the first phase of the project.
According to Steve Blankenship, executive director of the Lower Township Municipal Utilities Authority, the bonds will cover the low bid of $6.1 million for construction in Phase I. The overall project, to be done in four phases, will result in the replacement of the 136,000 linear feet of water main, 2,217 water services and 273 fire hydrants.
“We just approved to go to construction on Phase I,” Blankenship said.
He said the first phase covers Lincoln Boulevard from Bayshore Road to Beach Drive. Then it takes in the neighborhood from Lincoln to Holmes avenues, and from Beach Drive to Adriatic Avenue.
Blankenship explained the focus on the North Cape May section of the township in the replacement project.
“North Cape May was a private water system at one time; it was here before the authority was created. It’s probably the oldest part of our water system,” he said.
When the water main system was installed there, he said, they didn’t put in as many valves or hydrants as was the practice later. In addition, the lines are closer to the surface, meaning the water temperature in the lines is more subject to the air temperature and the lines are more prone to damage. He said replacing the lines will improve water quality.
Adding hydrants will improve fire protection.
Blankenship said the utilities authority now will start designing the second phase, which he was not ready to discuss.
With Phase I the authority will qualify for a $1.9 million Environmental Protection Agency Community Grant. The rest would be financed through the I-Bank, a state infrastructure and economic development bank.
Asked about bonding $7.3 million, Blankenship said that besides construction, there are engineering costs for design and permitting of $280,000, construction management costs of $250,000 and contingency costs built into the project. He said costs have definitely increased since Covid, and everyone in the infrastructure business has felt the increase.
He said Phase I would not start before Labor Day, and the utilities authority is working with the township to coordinate stormwater and paving work, so new paving will not be disturbed.
“We usually try to work with the township so, that way, customers are only inconvenienced once,” Blankenship said.
Contact the reporter, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or call 609-886-8600, ext. 128.
