Lower MUA Introduces First Balanced Budget in a Decade

VILLAS — Lower Township Municipal Utilities Authority (MUA) introduced an $8 million dollar balanced budget for 2011, its first balanced budget in over a decade.
The budget calls for no water or sewer rate increases, reduction of services, employee furlough days, or employee layoffs.
Over the past decade, MUA borrowed $4.3 million from its emergency fund to make its budget but no funding from that source was used for the 2011 budget.
The budget was introduced at a Weds., Oct. 6 board of directors meeting. The water budget totals $3.1 million and the sewer budget, $5 million.
According to MUA Executive Director Mike DeMarcantonio, some of the changes made during the past two and a half years include reducing wasteful spending, hiring a staff engineer, and a certified chief financial officer, modernizing equipment, installation of solar power, improving efficiency and “operating the MUA in a fiscally efficient manner.”
“The employees have agreed to some concessions in these tough economic times,” said DeMarcantonio.
The employees have also taken on additional tasks such as water and sewer main installation and repairs, completing smaller projects in house, working safely and efficiently, streamlining office procedures and reducing redundancies all in an effort to reduce the overall cost to the rate payers, he said.
“You did an unbelievable job pulling these budgets together,” said Board Member Joseph Mento to DeMarcantonio.
MUA Board Chairman Nels Johnson said the budget would have a small surplus next year. He said the MUA would be “the darling of the township in years to come.”
Johnson congratulated DeMarcantonio for “turning the place around in two short years.”
DeMarcantonio said MUA negotiated its two largest employee contracts with workers who “gave up quite a bit.” He said one union contract remains to be negotiated.
Employees gave up longevity bonuses, three holidays and will pay 1.5 percent of their salary, by state law, towards their health benefits.
The MUA plans to start the Town Bank water main installation project in January or February of 2011.
That will add approximately 2,500 new water customers and help to spread out the cost of daily operations of the MUA for the future, said DeMarcantonio.
The $12 million Town Bank project is funded through a grant and loan from the USDA and the ARRA Federal project funding.
The MUA Board authorized placing advertisements for bids for the construction of a new well to be known as Well Number Eight. DeMarcantonio said design work was nearly completed.
He said the next step was to get approval from the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and begin with a test well. DeMarcantonio said the well should be under construction by next spring with nine months to one year to complete and receive permits to operate.
The property must cleared, the well drilled, a building constructed, equipment installed, a flow test of the well and permits received to change from a test well to a production well, he said.
DeMarcantonio said MUA would not receive a major modification to its water allocation from DEP unless the new well is constructed.
Construction of the new Town Bank water main will begin when U.S.D.A. “gives their blessing.” He said it is only a transmission line with no services from it.
The main will go from Town Bank to Wildwood Avenue down Bayshore Road to Fishing Creek, said DeMarcantonio. When a higher water allocation is in place from Delaware River and Bay Authority from the County Airport, phase two will begin and further phases when the major modification is received from DEP.
The board authorized emergency repairs to a gravity force main near the intersection of 8th Avenue and the Wissahickon easement behind Cape Liquors and Cape Urgent Care. The line runs under the Cape May Canal from the Schellenger’s Landing pumping station.
DeMarcantonio said MUA received odor complaints this past summer and could not pin down the cause.
A MUA crew clearing the easement found a 20-foot gaping hole where the pipe used to be, he said.
About 200-feet of 24-inch pipe will need to be replaced, running from one manhole to another. The repair will be made by F.W. Shawl and Sons contractors.