North Haledon, Haledon to get fed-funded utility repairs

The Bergen Record
April 13, 2010
By Justin Zaremba

Haledon and North Haledon will be able to upgrade their century-old water and sewer systems with more than $5 million in federal financing, Rep Bill Pascrell Jr. said Monday.

Haledon Mayor Domenick Stampone said improvements to the municipal sewer system would extend from the border of Paterson along Belmont Avenue. However, the work is separate from repairs planned to a Roe Street neighborhood plagued by decades of sewage backups into homes.

"This project will help our borough move forward with needed modernization upgrades and will improve the quality of life for everyone who lives and works here," Stampone said.

The semi-autonomous Manchester Utilities Authority (MUA), which provides water services for the two boroughs, last month began receiving monthly installments of a $3.7 million sub-grant from the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund. The fund is part of federal stimulus distributed through the state Department of Environmental Protection.

Pascrell said $2.5 million of the financing will be subject to principal forgiveness, and $1.26 million would be a loan at 0 percent interest. The boroughs also will obtain a 20-year loan of $1.26 million at an interest rate of 3.51 percent. In total, the boroughs will receive $5,042,219 from the program.

"A strong infrastructure is essential to the community's public health and economic vitality," Pascrell said at a press conference on Belmont Avenue. "Repairing our drinking and wastewater systems was an obvious choice for this kind of smart, effective investments that create jobs and provide local communities with the ability to make these upgrades they desperately need, but often cannot afford."

MUA Commissioner James Van Sickle said the proposed project would clean and line pipes in North Haledon and replace water mains in Haledon and North Haledon. Portions of the pipes along Belmont Avenue date back to the 1890s, according to Van Sickle, who indicated that there had been numerous repairs and replacements over the years.

Van Sickle estimated water use in the boroughs averages 1 million gallons daily.

Additionally, Pascrell's announcement highlighted his legislation, the Sustainable Water Infrastructure Investment Act of 2009, which seeks to foster "public-private partnerships," essentially deregulation of private investment in public utilities. The bill, passed by the House of Representatives last month, provides alternative financing to municipal water and sewer projects by removing federally mandated funding caps for private investors.

Pascrell estimated the anticipated legislation would cost taxpayers $214 million over 10 years with a possible return of $6 billion annually in private investment, adding that the measure could generate 28,500 jobs locally. The bill must still go before the Senate.

Stampone, a Democrat, and North Haledon Mayor Randy George, a Republican, each praised the Democratic congressman's efforts to update the aging municipal infrastructure.

"Every time I need something, he's there for me," said George, adding he was willing to look beyond partisan politics.

George stated that Pascrell was also behind a push for $1.4 million in funding for a new municipal building in North Haledon.