BRIDGEWATER, NJ — Customers of the Somerset Raritan Valley Sewerage Authority(SRVSA) will see their sewer bills rise to cover the expense for a new $6 million administration building in Bridgewater.
The SRVSA presented its plan for a new administration building at 50 Polhemus Lane during a courtesy review before the Bridgewater Township Planning Board on April 21.
Board Chairman Maurizio Vescio said the matter was not a formal application and that the agency was appearing in public to present its plans and receive comments under municipal land use law.
"This is not a formal application, and they're not here seeking any sort of formal approval from the board," the chairman said. "They have to present their plans in a public setting and solicit comments and feedback."
Ronald Anastasio, executive director of the Somerset Raritan Valley Sewerage Authority, said the project would replace the authority's current administration building.
"Our current administration building actually dates back to the original construction of the beginnings of the authority in 1958," Anastasio said.
He said the old building is not ADA-compliant and that a new building would better accommodate the public.
Anastasio said the existing building is a repurposed operations building with tanks, pumps, and pipes in the basement, and that office staff is spread across the authority campus wherever space is available.
He said the authority has discussed a new administration building for decades, but other plant priorities had taken precedence.
Now he says they are "working on a design of a large plant upgrade. It's a sort of a rehabilitation project for the plant."
He said the authority must demolish its existing headworks building and construct a new, larger one partly in the footprint of the current administration building.
The authority's budget for the building is about $6 million, according to Anastasio.
He said the project is expected to be financed through the New Jersey Infrastructure Bank.
Anastasio also said the authority had a financial adviser conduct a rate study.
"We've been inching the billing rate up a few percent every year," said Anastasio.
He noted that the SRVSA is still in the design phase and then will proceed to permitting, and construction will take several years.
"So, by the time we go to permanent financing, we expect the billing rate to actually be up to the level where we could support the additional debt service," said Anastasio.
The authority serves Bridgewater, Branchburg Township, Hillsborough Township, the western portion of Warren Township, and the Boroughs of Somerville, Raritan, and Manville.
TJ Margolan, principal of DRG Architects, described the proposed building materials and layout.
He said the exterior would use metal panels and curtain walls at the front entrance to bring light into the building, with ADA ramps leading up to the entrance.
He also said the interior plan places offices with windows around the outside and a meeting room and bathrooms in the center.
The Planning Board will adopt an approval resolution for the building plan at the next hearing on Tuesday, May 5.
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