Woodbine Makes $4 Million Application to USDA Rural Development

WOODBINE — The Borough of Woodbine, along with the Woodbine Municipal Utilities Authority, has filed a preapplication to the USDA Rural Development Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant (WWDLG) Program for funding in the amount $4 million for the first phase of the Woodbine Sewer System Construction Project.
This initial phase of the project would result in connecting portions of the Borough of Woodbine; the Cape May County Municipal Utilities Authority’s sanitation landfill complex; the Woodbine Municipal Airport, and the Business Park; and the Woodbine Developmental Center’s facilities to a proposed Cape May County Municipal Utilities Authority’s force main which will connect to their Seven Mile Beach/Middle Township Wastewater Facility.
The second phase, for which another USDA Rural Development application would be submitted, would capture the downtown area and transport it to and through portions of the system constructed in the initial phase.
With the completion of both phases, all waste would be directed to the Cape May County Cape May County Municipal Utilities Authority’s Seven Mile Beach/Middle Township Wastewater Facility for treatment. A major benefit of this interconnect, both economically and environmentally, will be the elimination of the current practice of trucking the landfill leachate from the landfill to the noted treatment plant approximately 15 miles away, which requires an average of 18 tanker trucks trips per day.
Together, both Borough phases are expected to cost approximately $12.5 million, with the County bearing an additional estimated $8 million cost to construct the shared force main from the landfill to the wastewater treatment facility, thus totaling an estimated $20.5 million project.
“It has taken us several years of work to get to this point,” Mayor Pikolycky stated. “With the financial assistance of USDA Rural Development in 2014 and again in 2015, the Borough was able to first study the issue to determine how a sanitary sewer system could benefit our residents, and then we were able to carry out a large portion of the planning work required to file this application.”
The study referenced by Mayor Pikolycky was funded by a USDA Special Evaluation Assistance for Rural Communities and Households (SEARCH) grant, while the planning work was funded by a USDA Pre-Planning Grant (PPG).
“Over the years, USDA Rural Development has been a great partner with Woodbine, providing critical funding for a wide range of projects from improvements to our local food bank to personal protective gear for firefighters, and more,” Mayor Pikolycky concluded. “We appreciate their commitment to our community and we look forward to a favorable review of this preapplication.”