As a fan of smaller, more effective government, I believe a municipality’s primary focus should be delivering the essential services folks deserve to every Middle Township resident. Sometimes that is easier said than done. At 73 square miles, Middle Township is New Jersey’s eighth largest township, with a widely scattered population. This demographic makes the economical delivery of sewer and water services an ongoing challenge.
For many residents who have excellent quality well water, access to the public water system is not a priority. They’ve got great water and no water bill. But, for too many, particularly residents in the Del Haven area, water quality is poor and getting worse. Bringing water to these areas won’t be easy, but we owe it to these residents to meet this challenge. Public health equates with public safety. Public safety must be our number one priority. That’s why I’ve been seeking a creative solution to this problem for over two years.
In August of 2015, as mayor, we held a public work session with New Jersey American Water to explore our options to bring clean, affordable water to Del Haven. The result of that effort was a plan, presented in November of 2015, to bring water from Whitesboro, through the area known as Thirteen Curves, to Del Haven. But the cost to working class families and our seniors on fixed incomes in Del Haven was prohibitive. I believed we could find a better way.
In early 2016, the Lower Township MUA was about to begin a project planned to convey municipal water to the East Villas area, running to the border with Middle Township.
When I read about the East Villas water project, I thought this just makes too much sense not to pursue bringing water to Del Haven from Lower Township. It’s less than three-quarters of a mile from the north end of this project to the potential water customers in Del Haven. Lower MUA already handles sewer for some folks in that area. I thought this could be a win/win for Lower and Middle Townships.
With the assistance of Administrator Connie Mahon and our Municipal Engineer Remington and Vernick, we worked with LTMUA Director Michael Chapman to develop cost estimates and determine whether the LTMUA has sufficient capacity to accommodate new customers from Middle Township, without jeopardizing their long range plans to supply Lower Township residents. The results of this analysis confirmed our belief that the much shorter distance to the water supply would certainly reduce construction costs; but the numbers also indicated that the LTMUA would need to seek an increase in total water allocation from the state of New Jersey in order to meet the new demand created by Middle Township customers. This process can take from 18 months to two years.
While discussions with both New Jersey American Water and the LTMUA continue, we have also met with the leadership of the Wildwood Water Utility to explore the possibility of extending the water lines from their facility in Rio Grande north on Route 47. This approach would add additional customers down the Route 47 corridor and offer the flexibility to not only run service west into Del Haven, but also extend service to the Green Creek area and the aforementioned Thirteen Curves area. These discussions are in the early stages, but seem to indicate that the Wildwood Water Utility would have sufficient capacity to service Middle Township customers without the need to seek an increase in their water allocation from the state.
There are pluses and minuses to all three plans. We must continue to do our due diligence and push this process to a workable solution in the shortest possible timeframe.
Folks in Del Haven and other neighborhoods have suffered too long, and their water isn’t going to get any better. We owe it to them to find a trusted, reliable source of clean water at a cost they can afford.
Learn more on Facebook @ Tim Donohue for Middle Township or email donohueformiddle@gmail.com.
Ordered and paid for by Donohue for Committee, 21 Acorn Ln., Cape May Court House, NJ 08210
Cape May – Governor Murphy says he doesn't know anything about the drones and doesn't know what they are doing but he does know that they are not dangerous. Does anyone feel better now?
