M_PB 4th Round Affordable Housing Plan Infrastructure Concerns

P a g e | 2 AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER www.westorange.org INFRASTRUCTURE Municipal infrastructure refers to the key and basic facilities that support a community that include transportation, utilities, communications, waste management, and energy. Transportation The Township of West Orange roadway network consists of mostly collector roads, arterial roads, and local roads with access to interstate I-280 and NJ Route 10. Most of the arterial roads are County routes connecting to other Townships including highways. The proposed inclusionary developments will increase residential development and escalate the number of vehicles and lead to further traffic congestion. As a result, the demand on local roads will most likely increase and impair them from handling the higher volume demand from new developments. Utilities I. Water: New Jersey American Water (NJAW) owns, operates, and maintains the water system and is the purveyor of potable water for the Township of West Orange. On the other hand, the storm and sanitary sewers are owned, operated, and maintained by the Township of West Orange. II. Electric and Gas: Public Service Electric Gas & Co. (PSE&G) operates primarily as a regulated utility licensed by the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) to supply electricity and gas for the Township of West Orange. III. Sanitary Sewers: The sanitary sewer system consists of gravity and force main sewage that is conveyed to and treated by the Joint Meeting of Essex and Union Counties (JMEUC) located at 500 South First Street in the City of Elizabeth, New Jersey. JMEUC has a rated capacity of 85 MGD (million gallons per day) with an average dry weather flow of 60 MGD. In 2004 the JMEUC as a means of ensuring adequate future capacity within its sanitary sewer trunk lines, and to encourage future growth and development within the municipalities that are part of it, initiated an Infiltration and Inflow (I/I) Reduction Program. 1 Any new development whether; is residential, commercial, or mixed-use requires a Treatment Works Application (TWA) with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) for anything over 8,000 gallons per day (GPD) and as a result initiates the need for the I/I reduction program established by the JMEUC. The I/I reduction 1 Email from Andres Gallego, Collection System Manager JMEUC