Moorestown Council Delays Call On Strawbridge Lake Improvements

MOORESTOWN, NJ — Moorestown Council has put off a vote on a proposal for various improvements at Strawbridge Lake after questions arose about the disposal of spoils that would be dredged from the children’s pond.

A piece of the proposal that calls for between $100,000 and $300,000 to be set aside for the dredging of the children’s pond grabbed the attention of Councilman Mike Locatell during a presentation on the project given by a representative of Princeton Hydro during Monday night’s council meeting at town hall.

“The main cost of the dredging is trucking,” said Christopher Mikolajczyk, the Princeton Hydro designer who made the presentation. “You’re paying for mileage, and you don’t know where they will be going.”

Mikolajczyk said it would be up to the company that performs the project to decide where they want to take the spoils, which are contaminated. Only a few sites will take contaminated spoils, and they tend to be lumped together.

He said the company works out the best deal it can to dispose of spoils, but they could end up taking them anywhere.

“They could take them to Delaware, or they could take them to Pennsauken,” Mikolajczyk said.

The cost of the mileage for that trip is basically passed on to the township through the contract between the township and the developer. The project has not yet gone out to bid, so it is unclear how much that part would cost.

Locatell said a difference of $200,000 is too much and the township needs to know what it’s paying for.

“I don’t see why we should have to pay for them to get a better rate,” Locatell said.

“You don’t have to accept their bid,” Mikolajczyk said.

Township Manager Thomas Neff said the township wants to avoid getting ripped off, and that it needs to be very careful in the bidding process.

Later in the meeting, Mikolajczyk said the $100,000 to $300,000 was strictly a guess made in order to answer a question posed by the township.

“Before you said it was due to trucking costs, now you’re saying you just guessed,” Locatell said. “We need an actual cost.”

As a result, council continued public comment on the proposed ordinance to set aside $760,000 and borrow $532,000 in bonds and notes for the project until the June 10 meeting.

The improvements include a pathway along the lake, restoration of the Children's Pond, and storm water improvements around Haines Drive. The size of the pathway was a discussion item, as the township has a $200,000 grant to cover the pedestrian path.

A 6-foot path would cost $197,500, which would be completely covered by the grant. An 8-foot path would cost $235,800, so the township would have to chip in some money for a bigger pathway.

An 8-foot path would be more comfortable for pedestrians, as well as residents pushing strollers, Deputy Mayor Nicole Gillespie said. Locatell said there aren’t a lot of people who walk at Strawbridge Lake.

“It only takes two” to make it uncomfortable, Mayor Lisa Petriello said.

Stephen Bach of Bach Associates made the presentation on this portion of the project, and pointed out that this is just the first phase. The pedestrian pathway will likely be expanded, so officials should consider the future costs as well, he said.

“I think we could just narrow the future path if needed,” Gillespie said.

Council did unanimously approve two non-consent agenda resolutions concerning the project.

The first sets aside $35,000 from Moorestown's Open Space, Recreation, Farmland and Historic Preservation Trust Fund for environmental improvements at the lake. The other awards a $35,000 contract to Princeton Hydro for vegetation control services at the lake.

See related: Temporary Capital Budget Covers Strawbridge Lake, ADA Proposals