Woodbine Makes Preapplication to USDA for Water Systems Improvements

WOODBINE – The Borough of Woodbine has submitted a preapplication to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Water and Waste Water Loan and Grant Program for funding totaling approximately $4 million for a four-pronged upgrade to the municipality’s water system.
“The Borough’s water treatment plant had its last major capital improvements in the 1980s,” said Mayor Pikolycky.  “Upgrading of the system will ensure the plant’s continued usage in a safe, economical, and compliant manner.”
The first component, estimated to cost to cost $1,876,980, would upgrade and replace various components of the Borough’s water supply and treatment plant, while the second element would extend the Borough’s water distribution system along Fidler Hill Road from the existing system located along Route 550.  The estimated cost for this second component is $699,020.
The remaining two pieces of the project — extension of the Borough’s water system along portions of Fidler Road, Sumner Avenue, and Heilprin Avenue to complete looping of the water system in the area, and extension of the Borough’s water system within the Municipal Airport complex – are estimated to cost $1,034,460 and $374,080, respectively. 
“This project will continue to favorably affect our Public Protection Classification rating which has just been upgraded due to other recent improvements to our water delivery system,” Mayor Pikolycky noted.
Designed to help very small, financially-challenged rural communities extend and improve water and waste treatment facilities that serve local households and businesses, the USDA Water and Waste Program aims to save tax dollars, improve the natural environment, and help manufacturers and businesses to locate or expand operations through the local implementation of good practices.
“For many years now, the USDA has been a great partner with the Borough of Woodbine,” concluded Mayor Pikolycky.  “I’m optimistic that that partnership will continue and that the Borough will be invited to submit a full application to carry out this important project.”