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Resident asks council to move her home to later phase of township waterline project after contractor dispute
Summary
A Lake Hiawatha homeowner told the Parsippany-Troy Hills council she declined contractor work due to alleged incompetence and asked to be scheduled in a later phase; council and staff said the project follows a multi-year state-mandated schedule and advised a staff follow-up meeting.
Kim Anderson, a Lake Hiawatha resident, told the Parsippany (Troy Hills) Township Council on Feb. 18 that she has asked to be moved to a later phase of the township’s multi-year waterline replacement program after disputes with the contractor assigned for her neighborhood.
Anderson said she and neighbors have discussed the issue with the township for about four years. She said the contractor assigned to Phase 1 behaved “unprofessional and incompetent,” citing instances she described as improperly buried lines, rude conduct and an incident that she said punctured a sewer line. “We declined to have them do the work on our house,” Anderson said.
Why it matters: Anderson said she was placed in Phase 1 based on a water-department determination that her property had a leak; she said there is no leak and asked to be moved to a later phase. She told council the project is multiyear and suggested she should be scheduled in a future neighborhood phase. She said she received a letter from Township Attorney Michael Lavery warning that fines and penalties, and a denial of a certificate of occupancy, could follow if the line is not replaced.
Council and staff response: a council member (Mayor James Barberio was present) and staff said the water program follows a phased schedule with statutory timelines and neighborhood sequencing. A speaker noted the state mandate establishes a multi-year timetable and that once neighborhoods are sequenced, moving individual properties across phases can create extra costs; the council suggested the township’s water staff should follow up directly with Anderson. The meeting record shows a staff follow-up request: council asked that a township staff member contact Anderson to arrange a meeting.
No formal enforcement action was initiated at the meeting. A township official reiterated that the overall program is a multi-year, state-mandated project and that the township’s water department would try to work with residents when possible.
Ending: Council directed staff to attempt direct follow-up contact with Anderson; no council vote or change to project phasing was made during the session.
