North Haledon officials, state lawmakers push for funds after multi-day water outage

North Haledon Mayor Randy George and state and local water officials on Aug. 20 convened a work session to review a multi-day water outage tied to a major water-main break and to press state and federal officials for funding and relief for affected residents and businesses.

Mayor Randy George opened the session by saying the borough and its utilities lack the funds to fully repair aging infrastructure. “The Borough of North Haledon can’t afford to make the improvement,” he said, noting repairs will cost “millions and millions of dollars.”

Congresswoman Nellie Pou said her office sought emergency support after the outage and called for federal funding. “This should never happen in America,” Pou said, and described coordinating emergency-declaration requests and a resident hotline to provide water to affected households and first responders.

Assemblywoman Shavonda E. Sumter, who represents part of the area, said the outage underscored how critical drinking water is and urged the state to provide a clear dollar figure for repairs. “Never thought that we would see five days without water in our lifetime,” Sumter said, and asked for legislative action and consideration of utility-bill credits.

Assemblyman Al Abdelaziz said lawmakers are seeking both short-term aid for residents who incurred immediate costs — water, laundry, hotels — and longer-term funding for infrastructure fixes. He urged the Governor to consider reimbursing residents for expenses and to refrain from billing for August while the boil-water notice was in effect.

Officials from the Passaic Valley Water Commission (PVWC) and the Municipal Utilities Authority (MUA) described the technical response. PVWC Executive Director Jim Mueller said the Aug. 8 incident began with what appeared to be a single main break that turned out to involve two lines. He said PVWC established an incident command and an emergency contractor and acknowledged communication gaps as the situation evolved. Mueller described a required sequence of steps before the MUA could begin its own flushing: PVWC must first flush hydrants in Paterson, which he estimated could take a minimum of 12 days.

Victor D’Ambrosio, chairman of the MUA, said the utility purchases water from PVWC and distributes it locally. He described 24/7 efforts to restore connections — including one near Squaw Brook Road that helped bring water into the borough — and thanked the North Haledon Police Department and municipal staff for distributing bottled water and answering resident calls. D’Ambrosio said flushing tanks and hydrants will be needed before the boil-water advisory can be lifted, and that the process would proceed on a continuous schedule once it begins.

Public commenters pressed for clearer timelines, reimbursement and better contingency planning. A local business owner, identified in the record as Alicia of 895 Belmont Avenue, said her business lost roughly $20,000 during the outage and asked what the timeline for reimbursement would be. Mayor George said a resolution asking the Governor to provide financial reimbursement would be prepared in conjunction with state legislators; the minutes record the proposed resolution but not a vote.

Other residents criticized the slow declaration of a state emergency and asked for clearer public guidance about what is safe to use under the boil-water notice (cooking, bathing and dishwasher use were specifically cited as areas of confusion). A resident who identified himself as Frank Fillipelli commended the water commission’s operational response but urged creation of a contingency plan for aging pipes.

Several motions recorded in the minutes relate to meeting procedure: Council Member Donna Puglisi moved and Council Member Bruce O. Iacobelli seconded a deviation from the agenda so Mayor George could administer an oath of office to Dena Cedar; the motion passed on a unanimous roll call of members present. The council also opened and closed a public-comment period by unanimous votes; the meeting later moved to routine agenda items and adjourned at 10:24 p.m.

What happens next: officials said they will publish more detailed flushing and recovery updates (PVWC indicated a public flushing timeline and a hotline was in place), the borough will pursue a resolution with state legislators asking for financial aid and lawmakers present said they would continue pushing for state and federal funding to repair aging infrastructure.

Reporting note: Quotes and attributions are taken from the North Haledon work-session minutes for Aug. 20, 2025.