MUA Enforcing Water Connection Ordinance

VILLAS — What if you spent $10,000 on a wedding and no one showed up? What if you spent $20 million making a movie and only 500 people saw it?
What if you spent $775,000 installing water mains in streets and only 10 people connected?
Lower Township Municipal Utilities Authority (MUA) completed a project in May, which placed water mains on Florida, Jacksonville and Hudson avenues and Peters Street. It had a cost of $775,000, which made water available to 170 new customers. Of that, only 10 have connected.
On Wed., Nov. 3 meeting, the MUA Board of Directors held its annual water/sewer budget hearing. Auditor Leon Costello said both budgets have no rate increase and maintain all services, were balanced and have been approved by the state. The budgets are not raiding surplus funds, he said.
“In these times, they are incredibly good budgets,” said Costello.
MUA Commissioner Thomas Brown said MUA’s financial picture would get even better as more and residents connect to the water system.
“I wish it could happen faster than the pace that it is happening,” he said.
“That’s $775,000 we spent on that project for 10 people,” said MUA Executive Director Mike DeMarcantonio.
He said all the property owners affected by the water main installation have been notified they have one year to connect in accordance with Lower Township’s mandatory water connection ordinance.
DeMarcantonio said a letter was sent to property owners in the north end of Villas in May.
From the first list of residents who did not connect to the MUA water system, 88 property owners either paid the connection fee or a lien was placed on their home. The township sells the liens at a public sale. Property owners must pay off the lien before they can sell their home.
“One way or another the MUA will get the money,” said Board Chairman Nels Johnson. “We’d rather get it sooner than later.”
Originally, the connection fee was slated to be $3,200 but the MUA absorbed half that cost, he said.
Johnson said he talked to a Bayside Village resident who paid $250 per quarter for water for his home in Ohio. The resident said MUA rates were “cheap.”
“We as ratepayers cannot afford to have pipe put in the street if its not enforced when they need it,” said resident Joe Winters.
MUA Solicitor Jeff Barnes said the authority could not accelerate the enforcement.
Johnson said MUA was following the regulations of the mandatory connection ordinance.
He said those who had horrendous, contaminated, un-drinkable well water should be considered and MUA has “gone above and beyond to work with the people.”
Winters asked if the MUA will have the same problem of residents not connecting to the system when water mains are installed in the Town Bank area.
DeMarcantonio said Town Bank residents would have one year to connect. He said it is such a large project, “as we get two or three streets completed and people can hook up, we’re going to send letters out that they have one year to hook up.”
He said as the next three streets are completed, a letter will be sent to those residents notifying them they have one year to connect.
“We’re not going to wait for the whole project to be done and then send the letter out,” said DeMarcantonio.
Zero interest loans that cover both the MUA’s connection fee and the cost for a plumber to connect a home to the water line and cost of disconnecting a well and treatment system are available from state Housing and Mortgage Financing Agency (HMFA).
All residential homes are covered even second homes and rental properties. There is no maximum or minimum income qualifications and personal savings account, annuities and other assets are not considered in the loan process.
The maximum amount of the loan is $10,000 for water connections. There is a 10-year maximum term. If the loan is less than $3,000 one payment per year will be due. Two semi-annual payments will be due on loans more than $3,000.
For more information, call: 1-800-NJ-HOUSE or see the website: http://www.state.nj.us/dca/hmfa/consu/owners/water/