Moorestown Council gives out preliminary numbers for water treatment costs

Township manager Scott Carew gave preliminary numbers for the cost and time frame of treatment options for the 1,2,3 Trichloropropane (TCP) at the township council meeting on Monday, Nov. 10. It is estimated that the cost could be between $2 million and $4 million, and it could be 12 to 18 months to get the treatments set up.

“All of these numbers are elementary until we decide what direction we are going in,” Carew said.

At the meeting, Mayor Chris Chiacchio suggested the township put out a Request for Proposal for a consultant. Council members Greg Newcomer, Phil Garwood and Victoria Napolitano agreed this would be a good option. Deputy Mayor Stacey Jordan was not at the meeting.

“I think it would be good to look for a consultant who is schooled in these types of matters, with the educational background and experience, who can come to meetings and answer these questions. I’m not an expert in these things, so let’s get an expert in to look at it and discuss it and give us a plan,” Chiacchio said.

The consultant would be asked to evaluate treatment options for eliminating the presence of TCP from the township’s water supply. The township would go out to bid for a contractor to eliminate the contaminant after the consultant’s evaluation is complete.

Chiacchio also expressed his concern with the time frame, saying he “would like to see something in place by April or May.”

This decision was made as questions from residents continued to come in about TCP and the town’s water supply. Since Moorestown closed two wells for further evaluations and concern over the TCP being found in the water since 2013, the people of Moorestown want answers.

The township has said the amount of TCP in the water is not enough to cause health problems unless a person drinks an excessive amount of water over a long period of time. However, the council chose to close the wells as a precaution.

The township applied for compensation through the state’s Spill Compensation Fund, which provides financial assistance for treatment and cleanup efforts, on June 11. However, NJDEP denied the application because the initial sample was collected in May of last year. Carew said they didn’t know it was too late at the time.

A municipality has 12 months to apply for compensation from the time of initial discovery. The township didn’t apply for the funding immediately because there was no immediate concern over an unregulated contaminant in the water.

Council is looking into various ways of funding with the NJDEP, though Chiacchio said he was told the township could reapply for the funding at the start of next year.

Also, if the township finds the source of the TCP in the water supply, and there is someone responsible, it could potentially get compensation from them, according to Township Solicitor Anthony Drollas.

Information on the water quality report and timeline, TCP and more can be found on the township’s website www.moorestown.nj.us.

In other news:

• Due to the recent burglaries around Moorestown, Carew suggested a town hall meeting be set up to provide guidance to citizens of the town. Council agreed this was a good idea.

• The township has been looking into improvements for its website as well as the planning, zoning and construction departments’ website. For the planning, zoning and construction departments, the internal staff has been looking at potential vendors for new software to enable residents, businesses and contractors to apply for permits online. The departments are hoping that with the new software, the information will move the inspections more quickly and the paperwork will flow more easily. Also, once in the system, residents, businesses and contractors should be able to track their permits online and keep updated with the paperwork. As for the township website, a unanimous decision was reached on a vendor by the Telecommunications and Technology Committee.

“We’ve heard for a long time of people having a hard time with our website, that it’s difficult to search. That’s an important service for our residents, to be able to find information on our website,” Napolitano said.

Council must now approve the contract for the website reconstruction.

• The next township council meeting will be Monday, Nov. 24 at 7:30 p.m. with the workshop starting at 7 p.m.