Water department outlines multi-year projects including $56M sewer separation and $30M plant rehab

Mister Fox of the city water department told the Newark City Council service committee the department is juggling multiple multi-year capital projects and studies that will shape utility service and local construction impacts for the next decade.

Key projects and funding - Booster stations: Fox said the Thornwood Drive booster-station replacement is nearly finished and a second redundant station near Fade Drive will increase system resilience; completion is expected in 2026 pending final electrical work. - Lead/service-line replacements: The department has completed service lines 1–5 and is finishing line 6 (about one month from completion). Fox said work on line 7 is scheduled to start in 2026 with an approximately 18-month duration; lines 8–12 remain planned. He told the committee the city used American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds and loan financing with principal-forgiveness terms for several of these projects (loan-program name was transcribed as 'WGA loans'). - Customer-notice policy: Fox said the city will notify customers up to four times if they have galvanized service lines; if owners decline to replace failing galvanized lines after notice the city will remove service responsibility and the owner will be responsible for future replacements. - Rapid Creek streambank: The stormwater streambank project was completed about 18 months ago but final funding hinges on Army Corps of Engineers approval; Fox expects reconciled funding in the first quarter of next year. - South 2nd Street and River Road projects: South 2nd Street sewer separation is wrapping up but paving and sidewalks are pushed into 2026; River Road pump-station replacement is underway with associated road closures. - 16 North sewer separation: Fox described this as the city’s largest long-term project, with an estimate of about $56 million and a bid opening set for December 12 (year not specified in the transcript). He warned that Mount Vernon Road may be closed 9–12 months during construction and that phase 1 must be completed before July 2028; the original program was split into two phases after coordination with the EPA, with phase 2 estimated at roughly $50 million and required by 2041. - Water treatment plant rehab: An asset-management review found many treatment-plant assets near failure; Fox said initial design work will begin next year with construction targeted for 2028–2029 and an engineer estimate near $30 million. - Billing system replacement: The utility-billing system in place since 2006 will be replaced because vendor support ends in 2027; Fox said two vendors remain from a field of 12, expects a roughly 12-month implementation if funded in the 2026 budget, and estimated cost between $300,000 and $500,000.

Public comment Resident Jim Wallovich of 160 South Century told the committee the odor from recent finishing work near South Century is 'really bad' in warm weather and asked that the complaint be placed on the record.

What the committee will see next Fox said the department is finalizing a wastewater master plan and a rate study intended to set capital and operating funding over the next 5–20 years; staff also plan to pursue a re-rating of the wastewater plant to 9 million gallons per day before seeking larger capacity increases.

(Reporting based on a service committee meeting transcript; some program names and numeric phrases in the transcript were garbled and are noted where relevant.)