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Council flags lead service line plan as overdue and unclear who bears replacement costs
Summary
Council members said the borough is late submitting a lead service-line replacement plan to the State (deadline July 22) and asked staff to determine how many lead services remain and whether replacement cost responsibility lies with homeowners or the borough; the mayor said the state has not issued criteria on cost allocation or identification methods.
Councilman Poyer raised the borough’s lead-service-line replacement planning as a near-term compliance priority at the Aug. 14 meeting, saying the borough is late on a state-specified action and urging staff to determine how many lead service lines remain in town and clarify who will pay for replacements.
"We are now late in submitting a plan to the State of New Jersey as of July 22," Councilman Poyer said, and advised the borough should contact the Department of Environmental Protection and expedite mapping and responsibility determinations. Mayor George P. Hutnick explained the plan concerns lines that run from the town main to residences and said the State has not provided explicit criteria on how to identify those lines or who must pay to replace them.
A member of the public, Carol Hart of 5 Lincoln Ave., asked whether the question included copper piping inside homes; Mayor Hutnick responded that the State’s interest is the service line from the town main to the residence, not interior plumbing.
What happens next: Council asked staff to follow up with the State department, produce an inventory of potentially affected service lines and report back to the council so the borough can meet state planning requirements and clarify funding responsibility.
