Villadom Times Weekly Newpaper Online-January 21, 2009 Issue

Page 16 THE VILLADOM TIMES III & IV • January 21, 2009 Midland Park Matters The Borough of Midland Park is hoping to get funds from President-elect Barack Obama’s economic stimulus package to connect its sanitary sewer system to Ridgewood’s. The connection would service about 60 homes in the Glen Avenue area, from Woodside Avenue to Erie Avenue. The request for the funds has been forwarded to the president-elect and the New Jersey federal legislators by the New Jersey League of Municipalities as part of a total request for $638 million for local projects throughout the state. Midland Park’s request for $500,000 is one of 16 from Northern New Jersey municipalities. A Publication of the Midland Park Chamber of Commerce Half million in federal funds eyed for sewer connection “We are ready to go,” said Borough Administrator Michelle Dugan. “The engineer has ﬁnalized the design; we have ﬁnished negotiations with Ridgewood, and the Northwest Bergen Utilities Authority has given us permission to go to Ridgewood by gravity-feed,” she added. She said that the eligible projects were to be “shovel ready” by March. Dugan said that the borough is now preparing the bond ordinance for the project. Construction is expected to cost about $270,000, and connecting to the Ridgewood system another $219,000. The tie-in will be made at West Glen ACKERMAN’S Music Out of the way, but worth it. �� �� �� �� �� �� Major Credit Cards Accepted Center �� 85 Hillside Ave, Midland Park • 201-444-4760 • 201-445-1164 Open Mon-Fri 9-6, Sat 9-5, Closed Sunday Schweinfurth Florist �� Let us give you a fabulous makeover for 2009! �� Avenue in Ridgewood, she said. The borough will pay Ridgewood a yearly maintenance fee in addition to the connection fee for each of the houses. The village recently upgraded its system and can take the additional ﬂow from Midland Park. The connection would replace the borough-owned pumping sub-station at the corner of Glen and Erie avenues, a few feet from the Ridgewood border. The sewage is now force pumped to the NWBUA treatment plant in Waldwick, when it could instead be gravity-fed to the Ridgewood system about 200 ft. down the road. Dugan said that the sub-station requires constant monitoring and monthly servicing, all expensive undertakings to complicated mechanical equipment. Whenever there is a breakdown, emergency services are also high. The station was rebuilt 10 years ago at a cost of about $100,000. But with a life expectancy of 15 years, it would have had to be rebuilt in the not too distant future, the administrator said. She added that as the years progress, the likelihood of more stringent Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) regulations increases, which would have made future pump station upgrades prohibitive. In addition, the aging pipes that carry the ﬂow under pressure sometimes spring leaks, creating havoc for residents. Dugan said each time there is a leak it costs the borough about $10,000 to ﬁnd the problem and ﬁx it, and residents are inconvenienced when the road is dug up. “Abandoning the pump station will certainly be a more positive situation,” Dugan said, noting that an added beneﬁt of allowing the ﬂow to go downhill and not having to force-pump will be that no energy will be wasted. The sanitary sewer system was installed in the borough in the 1970s. ��