Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Infrastructure topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Brooklyn Avenue sewer rehab still months from completion; highway garage over budget, officials say
Summary
Staff reported Brooklyn Avenue sewer rehabilitation is ~89% complete with 35 laterals remaining and a projected August 2026 finish; the highway garage is about 107% of budget and may require an additional $190,000–$200,000 largely for inspection labor, while eliminating police details offset some costs.
Brooklyn Avenue's sewer rehabilitation is largely complete but remains unfinished, and one of the authority's building projects is running over budget, staff told the board.
Joe, the authority's executive director, said the Brooklyn Avenue project has completed about 89% of service lateral construction, with 35 laterals left to finish and a target completion date in August 2026. He said work-rate variability has slowed progress at times, averaging roughly one lateral per day across the project.
On a separate construction item, the highway garage project is about 107% of its budgeted expenses, Joe told the board. He said the authority anticipates roughly $190,000 to $200,000 in additional costs, primarily from extra inspection manhours billed by CME because the work took longer than projected. "We're anticipating about 190 to $200,000 above what we projected," he said.
Joe also described steps taken to limit other overruns. He said he removed some police details from projects to reduce costs, estimating that decision saved "three $400,000" (the transcript records the phrase as a saving of "three $400,000 already on this project" and elsewhere suggests avoided police-detail costs in the range of $200,000—60$300,000), and noted that staff and contractors can stop work for safety when police are not available.
The board asked for more precise contract completion dates and recommended inviting CME to a future meeting to clarify inspection-related charges and the remaining schedule. Meanwhile, progress on the Western Canal pump station continues: NJDEP comments are being addressed, title work for an easement is underway and PSCG gas service has been executed pending an install date; pre-cast wet wells and canopy installation are complete and interior electrical work is in progress.
Next steps: staff will provide more detailed start and completion dates by project and coordinate a follow-up meeting with CME and project managers to review inspection hours and remaining budget implications.
