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Hawthorne provides emergency water to neighbors and recommends 10‑year sales agreement
Summary
Administrator Eric Marrow described emergency interconnections supplying water to Prospect Park and North Halen after a PVWC main break in Patterson, urged voluntary outdoor‑watering curtailment, and presented a recommended 10‑year shared‑service sales agreement with Ridgewood to generate revenue for water capital projects.
Hawthorne officials told the Borough Council on Aug. 13 that the borough has supplied emergency water to neighboring Prospect Park and North Halen after a major Pacific Valley Water Commission main break in Patterson and that the borough intends to charge those utilities for the water supplied.
In a detailed report, Administrator Eric Marrow said the borough established emergency interconnections with the Prospect Park Water Commission and the Manchester Utilities Authority in North Halen to help cover shortfalls caused by the PVWC break. He asked residents to voluntarily curtail outdoor watering while the emergency connections remain in use to ensure Hawthorne has sufficient supply to share.
"We're asking our residents to curtail outdoor watering for the duration of this emergency so that our water utility has water it can share," Marrow said, noting the borough has followed required procedures to prevent contamination from systems currently under boil‑water advisories.
Marrow also outlined a consent‑agenda resolution (R135‑25) authorizing a shared‑service agreement to sell water to Ridgewood for a 10‑year period. He said the sale will produce a reliable revenue stream to help pay debt service on existing and planned water capital projects, including a planned treatment system.
Council members asked whether Hawthorne would be charging for the water and whether the borough would bear additional operating costs (Marrow confirmed the borough will charge for its water and expects reimbursement to cover oversight costs). The consent agenda including R135‑25 passed on a recorded roll call.
Why it matters: the emergency interconnections provide short‑term regional relief while the water sale agreement creates a multi‑year revenue source that could affect rates and capital financing for the borough water utility.
Next steps: administration will implement the shared‑service agreement per the approved resolution and continue to update the council on water service and any operational impacts.
