Page 10 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • May 16, 2012 FLOW Area Federal grant to reduce cost of sewer project by Frank J. McMahon A $1,025,000 federal grant will reduce the cost of the new Franklin Lakes sanitary sewer project being undertaken by the Northwest Bergen County Utilities Authority in the borough’s business district. The funds from the “forgiveness” grant will be applied to and credited against the principal of the loan for the project. The NBCUA service area accommodates the sewer requirements of 75,000 residents in Franklin Lakes, Allendale, Ho-Ho-Kus, Mahwah, Midland Park, Ramsey, Saddle River, Upper Saddle River, Waldwick, and Wyckoff. The Village of Ridgewood also has a service agreement with the authority. Bill Dator, chairman of the NBCUA, commented about the grant in a letter to the mayors of the communities served by the authority. “This grant combined with the almost $500,000 achieved through the competitive bidding process reduces the loan to be repaid for the project from the original $5.72 million to only $4.15 million, a savings of more than 25 percent,” Dator wrote. According to Dator, this grant was the result of a decision by the NBCUA commissioners to move expeditiously to apply for funding, originally as part of the American Recovery and Reconstruction Act of 2009. Under that federal stimulus plan, Dator explained, “shovel ready” water quality projects eligible for funding by the New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust were also eligible for a reduction in the loan requirement in the form of a principal forgiveness program. Dator expressed high praise for the NBCUA’s actions, stating, “Although the process was highly competitive and grant funds were very limited, the authority was not discouraged and persevered with the project.” He explained that, by finalizing the design and proceeding to obtain the property easements required for the construction, the authority was approved for interim project financing and this, in turn, led to the $1 million award. “The authority commissioners, staff, and professional consultants are to be congratulated on this award,” Dator stated. “The cost reduction will have a positive impact on the authority’s budget in 2013 and beyond, and the savings achieved through this program will allow the authority to maintain its commitment to reduced user charges to our member municipalities.” The sanitary sewer line to be installed in Franklin Lakes is intended to improve the groundwater quality in the business district and allow the Franklin Crossing, Franklin Square, and Franklin Lakes shopping centers, the Horizon and Mountain Shadows housing complexes, and the Franklin Avenue Middle School in that area to abandon their private package treatment plants and eliminate some individual septic systems. The sewer line will also allow for modernization and expansion of the businesses in that area. The initial flow from the sewer main will be 88,720 gallons per day, but the system will have the future flow capacity of 225,000 gallons per day, according to Keith Henderson, an NBCUA engineer. A pumping station will be constructed at the Franklin Crossing Shopping Center and the gravity-fed sanitary sewer main will extend from that area under I-287 and the railroad tracks east along Franklin Avenue to Pulis Avenue, and then along Pulis Avenue ultimately to connect to the gravity sewer on Chapel Road in Mahwah. A force-fed sanitary sewer line will be installed from Franklin Avenue along Susquehanna Avenue to Pulis Avenue to convey the borough’s flow to the NBCUA system. The sewage is treated at the authority’s plant in Waldwick. Seats available on local, regional school boards Both the Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School and Franklin Lakes K-8 school boards will have seats available in the November general election. Regional school board trustees Ira Belsky, a Franklin Lakes representative, and Robert Gebhard, a Wyckoff representative, have confirmed that they will not be seeking reelection. Trustees Elizabeth Pierce, a representative of Oakland, and Debbi Strauss, a representative of Wyckoff, have confirmed that they will seek reelection. K-8 School Trustee Joseph Conti has confirmed that he will not seek reelection to the local board, while trustee Margaret Bennett and School Board President Kathie Schwartz confirmed that they will seek reelection. The Ramapo Indian Hills board will have three threeyear seats and one unexpired one-year seat available this year. The posts include the three-year seats now held by Belsky, Pierce, and Gebhard; and the one-year unexpired term of former Franklin Lakes representative Wayne Peterson. Peterson’s seat is currently held by Strauss. The three available seats on the Franklin Lakes board are all three-year terms. All the available terms on these two boards will begin Jan. 1, 2013. Belsky is completing his third term on the board, while Strauss was appointed to the board in November, and Pierce and Gebhard are both completing their first terms. Belsky said that, after more than nine years, it would be good for someone new to get on the board. Gebhard said he cannot seek reelection due to the need to devote more time to his family obligations. Strauss is the supervisor of special education and school psychologist for the Saddle River School District. She has a bachelor’s degree from New York City University Queens College, a master’s degree in public school administration from Montclair State University, a master’s degree in educational psychology, and a professional diploma in school psychology from Kean University. She and her husband Michael have two sons, one of whom is an Indian Hills graduate and now attends Stevens Institute of Technology. Their other son currently attends Ramapo High School. Pierce has been an Oakland resident for 23 years. She has a master’s degree in business administration from New York Institute of Technology and is retired from AT&T, where she was a business/finance executive responsible for a $600 million budget. Married for 35 years to her husband Richard, Pierce has a son who is a graduate of Indian Hills High and is now a junior at Allegheny College. Conti has served five terms on the local school board, but is leaving due to increasing travel demands of his employment. Bennett was elected to her first term in 2009. She has resided in Franklin Lakes for nine years and has four children in the local schools. Besides chairing the Curriculum Committee, she has served on the Community Relations, Legislative, and Operations committees, the Curriculum Director Search Committee, and the Efficiency Study Committee. She has been the board’s representative to the Colonial Road School and Franklin Avenue Middle School parent teacher associations. Bennett is also an active PTA volunteer. She holds an MA in creative writing and she has been a financial writer and an editor. She also managed a research group for a mid-sized brokerage firm, where she helped develop a successful financial research product. In addition, she has been a consultant on marketplace research design. She is a founding board member of the New Jersey Coalition for World Class Math and worked with organizations that deliver medical services to orphans in Asia. Schwartz has been a Franklin Lakes resident for 14 years and has three children who attend Woodside Avenue School. She is completing her fourth year on the board. Prior to serving as board president and ex-officio member of all committees, which she has done for the past two years, she served as vice president and chair of the Finance Committee. She served on the district’s Efficiency Study Committee and was on the board’s negotiating team for the two recent teacher contracts and the most recent administrators’ contract. She was the Franklin Lakes Education Foundation representative for the board for two years and the Woodside Avenue PTA liaison for one year. Schwartz has a BA in accounting from Rutgers College School of Business, and an MBA in finance from New York University’s Stern School of Business. She spent 10 years in the banking and finance industry, with her most recent position as a managing director with Deutsche Bank’s private client and asset management group. She resigned from her position in 2002 when she had triplets and made a decision to be a stay at home mom and become more involved in her community. Candidates for the school board have until 4 p.m. on June 5 to submit their nominating petitions to the office of the Bergen County clerk in Hackensack. F.J. MCMAHON