Council approves $700K bond for water tank repairs

SUSSEX - The Sussex Borough Council intends to issue a $700,000 bond to help pay for the repair and repainting of its two water tanks. The bond, which was approved by the council at its June 16 meeting, is a stop-gap measure for the borough to ensure that it has enough capital to pay for the water tank repairs, said Sussex Borough Clerk Catherine Gleason. The borough has applied for a $541,000 grant from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Half of the funding, or $270,500, would be issued as a grant under the DEP’s Environmental Infrastructure Financing Program. The remainder would be split as a series of 20-year loans with interest rates of zero and one percent for each of the $135,250 loan amounts, said Gleason. Any remaining repair costs not covered by the grant and loans would be paid for through the bond, she added. The borough plans to put the project out to bid by early July, said Gleason. Millburn-based engineering firm Hatch Mott MacDonald has been retained to put together the specifications for the project, said Gleason. The borough’s recent 20 percent increase in its water and sewer rates does not incorporate the anticipated bond costs, Gleason added.