The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
Outdated cost estimates for a water main interconnection with the New Brunswick water utility have boosted the project’s cost by about $430,000.
The Township Council at its Sept. 10 meeting passed on second reading a bond ordinance for the additional amount.
That brings the total for the project to about $1.2 million, according to the ordinance.
Township Manager Bob Vornlocker said the increase was needed because the lowest bid received for the job was more than the council had estimated.
“We had cost estimates from 2010 or 2011,” he said.
The township has to build another interconnect with New Brunswick’s water utility because the state Board of Public Utilities “informed us that we are nearing our capacity,” Vornlocker said.
He said the BPU has calculated that the township is approaching the maximum amount of water it can supply customers at peak usage.
“It doesn’t mean that we can’t add another house to our water system,” he said. “There are formulas the BPU uses based on the number of customers and the amount of water we can provide on any given day.”
Vornlocker said of the four water suppliers used by the township – South Brunswick, New Jersey American Water, North Brunswick and New Brunswick – New Brunswick’s water is the cheapest.
The township has an interconnect from North Brunswick for emergency purposes, he said.
