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Bayonne awards first-phase lead service-line replacement contract, officials outline schedule and outreach
Summary
The council approved a roughly $8.63 million contract for the first phase of a state‑mandated lead service line replacement program. City engineers described the phased work, mapping and trial pits to confirm lead lines and committed to notifying council and residents as each work area begins.
The Bayonne Municipal Council on May 14 awarded the first-phase construction contract for a lead service-line replacement program to Sugar Property Services Inc. for a total contract amount of $8,628,080, city officials said. The project is part of a state-mandated program that the city must complete by July 22, 2031.
John Armstrong, engineer for Municipal Services, told the council the program covers 12,276 water connections across the city, of which 2,419 are confirmed lead service lines and roughly 8,840 are unknown and require field verification. The first-phase contract covers about 960 connections, Armstrong said, and the work requires many small trial pits to identify which services are lead and which are not.
"This project is a state mandate...we're in the third year of a 10‑year program," Armstrong said. He described the logistics of coordinating excavations with street repaving schedules and the need to work closely with Public Works to avoid tearing up newly paved streets.
Councilmembers asked for a simple schedule and for the administration to notify the council and the public before work begins in each neighborhood. Armstrong said staff can provide a drawing identifying the first-phase area and that the program will proceed in planned stages rather than at random.
The council approved the contract on the consent calendar. Councilmembers and staff emphasized the project's technical complexity and the need for resident outreach as trial pits and excavations begin.
The contract award follows state guidance and the city's identification of priority areas; city staff said the broader program will continue over multiple phases and include coordination with repaving and other infrastructure projects.
