Del Haven Water Service Discussed; Shopping Cart Woes Still Rolling

RIO GRANDE – Middle Township Committee took its work session and committee meeting on the road Sept. 21, meeting in the Rio Grande Volunteer Fire Hall.
About 30 residents attended the work session with the focus of attention being a question-and-answer period with representatives of New Jersey American Water concerning the potential extension of municipal water to Del Haven.
Elliott Schwartz, an engineering manager with New Jersey American Water, said he was pleased with the discussion and the obvious interest of community members in having access to the municipal water system.
In August Schwartz, along with two other utility representatives, addressed the committee and said they had the volume of water to supply the approximately 800 households in the area with no additional water tanks.
At the conclusion of that meeting, New Jersey American Water pledged to conduct a survey to gage the level of interest and report back to the committee on the estimated costs of extending the system.
Schwartz said that about seven miles of water main would probably be needed and added “That’s not cheap.”
He noted that the direct connection to the township system is about two miles away and estimates that another five miles of pipe would be necessary to adequately cover the community.
When the company learns the number of homes willing to connect to the system, the anticipated revenues can be calculated and compared to the implementation costs of extending the main system.
“If the anticipated revenue covers the implementation costs, we will certainly be willing to do it,” Schwartz said.  He added that if there is a short fall in covering the expense of the extension, the township and the community have to consider ways to cover that shortfall.
In the two meetings, three different options have been discussed: a municipal ordinance requiring the residents to connect to the pipeline, the township itself covering any shortfall, or the possible availability of grants to support the project.
The survey of residents is still on-going and actual cost estimates are not yet available, but the discussion demonstrated that the township is not predisposed to requiring households to connect or to have the municipality pick up the costs of any shortfall.
Schwartz estimates that it will be in November before cost estimates and projected revenue streams are known and any shortfall identified.
Even if the pipeline can be extended based on anticipated revenues, homeowners will be responsible for the service lines to connect to the water main.
New Jersey American Water put a projected cost on that effort of between $2,500 and $4,000. The expense would involve disconnecting current well systems so they would be separated from the incoming water supply, reengineering plumbing as necessary for taking the new water into the home, running the service line itself, and options in the types of pipe to be used.
The range also takes into account that not all homes are the same. “Some homes may be close to the street while others are not,” Schwartz said.
Discussion during the session focused on costs with several residents feeling they could do the necessary work much less expensively. Schwartz granted that possibility but emphasized the fact that New Jersey American Water had a responsibility to give residents a target that would be low balling the effort. “For some households, it can be a complex job,” he said. The company provided a typical service line installation diagram.
Once connected to the water main, residents would fall under the current regulated cost structure for monthly billing. The company estimated that the local water bill in the area would range from $35 to $55 per month.
At the conclusion of the session, there was generally positive feedback on the proposed connection, but the full cost of the undertaking will not be known until the survey is completed and the potential revenues are compared to the implementation costs.
Shopping Carts
The Rio Grande location for the work session made it the perfect site for brief discussion of a growing local problem, stray shopping carts.
 The area’s shopping corridor which includes large retailers which make major use of shopping carts for customers. A number of those carts end up well away from stores, piling up at bus stops or in unrelated parking lots, road medians, and neighborhoods.
Stray carts are unsightly and a nuisance, causing added work for the township’s Public Works department and the police. They can also represent a danger to traffic in the area.
In some instances police have issued warnings and even occasional citations to individuals taking carts off store property but the township does not see policing as the answer to the problem.
There is increasing discussion at township committee for an ordinance that would require retailers to provide an electronic braking system on the carts. The anti-theft systems lock the wheels when the cart is taken off the retailer’s property based on an electronic signal.
Capt. John Edwards of Middle Township Police Department noted that there are a handful of large retailers in the area that account for the large majority of the stray carts.
Concerns about placing an undue burden on small retailers could be handled, Edwards suggested, by making the ordinance apply only to stores with a certain number of carts in use.
Committee member Daniel Lockwood, a proponent of the electronic brake solution, believes that such a system would save retailer’s money in the long run.
With the number of stray carts growing and with some of the large retailers not managing the problem effectively, the township may find itself soon drafting an ordinance requiring action. 
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.