Land Swap Protects Hopatcong Well

The borough reached an agreement with the New Jersey Green Acres office on a land swap that will create a wellhead protection zone for a borough well and add some property to Hopatcong State Park.

The Borough Council approved the arrangement by resolution Wednesday.

The borough will vacate portions of Rand, Lydia and Anita streets, all of which are paper streets, legal rights-of-way that appear  on a map, but in reality don’t exist.  At the same time, the remainder of the Goldmire property will be annexed to Hopatcong State Park.

Borough Attorney John Ursin said the action will create a wellhead protection area for the Rand Street well, which the state has been seeking for more than four years.

The council Wednesday also authorized the Hopatcong Water Utility to waive interest payment for 17 customers in the Arthur Road Well Association.

Council Richard Bunce, the liaison to the water utility, said the action for  the Arthur Road residents was made possible by the investment of a $1  million federal Environmental Protection Agency grant that helped pay for needed water system improvements.

Among the work being done, he said, is the replacement of old 2-inch water mains by 6-inch mains, which increase the system’s capacity.  Such an improvement allowed the utility to add the Arthur Road customers, he said.

He encouraged residents who live near a water main to discuss with neighbors whether to  get hooked up to the system.

“The improvements have made it possible to add customers,” he said. “The system might be the best it’s ever been.”

Bunce said another improvement was evident during Hurricane Sandy, when water utility customers had tap water.  That was possible because the utility has installed generators at several of the borough wells that kept the pumps working during the general power outage.