Hopewell Borough Council has introduced a revised ordinance for the referendum ballot question that will have voters determine whether or not to sell the borough’s water utility to New Jersey American Water (NJAW).
A public hearing will take place on the revised ordinance at the Borough Council’s July 10 regular meeting. The Council introduced the ordinance on June 23.
The referendum vote will take place during the Nov. 4 general election.
“At our June regular meeting we did an introduction for our ballot question,” Mayor Ryan Kennedy explained. “In subsequent to that we had it reviewed by the county clerk and ultimately revised it to make it shorter so tonight is kind of the replacement ordinance that will have the revised ballot question explanation.
“This is the text that will be on the ballot in November.”
Borough Attorney Lisa Maddox explained the revision. that was done with the referendum ballot question in the explanation portion for the question.
Currently the second paragraph in the question states, “Hopewell will complete PFAS (Per- And Polyfluoroalkyl Substances) and arsenic remediation on Wells 4 and 6.”
“The recommendation is to amend that because as it is currently drafted it basically suggests there is arsenic in Well 4, but there is not as far as the borough understands,” she said.
“The revised language would be – ‘Hopewell will complete PFAS remediation on Wells 4 and 6 and arsenic remediation on Well 6 – because that is a much more accurate statement of the type of remediation that would be required on the two wells.”
Below is the referendum question and explanation:
“Shall the Water System of the Borough of Hopewell in Mercer County, New Jersey, be sold to New Jersey-American Water Company, Inc., a New Jersey Board of Public Utilities-regulated water utility, for the sum of $6,400,000?”
“Yes.” “No.”
Explanation (Hopewell Valley News has broken up the two referendum explanation paragraphs that will appear on the ballot)
First paragraph – If a majority vote “Yes,” Hopewell Borough (Hopewell) will be authorized to sell its water system (but not the sewer system) to New Jersey-American Water Co., Inc. (NJAW) for $6.4 million. NJAW will assume ownership, operation and maintenance of the water system, invest at least $7 million in capital improvements within 5 years, disconnect Well 4 to immediately remediate the PFAS emergent condition, and move customers to state-regulated regional water and fire protection service rates, resulting in reduced water costs for most users (e.g., the average Hopewell user of 12,000 gallons/quarter will see a 36% reduction in water costs).
Subject to state approval, Hopewell will use the $6.4 million to pay off all water system debt and as much general debt as possible, enabling Hopewell to use its debt reserve funds to pay off all remaining general debt and in turn save the money annually spent on debt principal and interest ($987,000 budgeted for 2025).
Second paragraph – If a majority vote “No,” Hopewell will retain ownership of the water system and remain responsible for its operation, maintenance and all necessary repairs and capital improvements. Hopewell will complete PFAS remediation on Wells 4 and 6 and arsenic remediation on Well 6 (subject to receipt of grant funding) and complete additional capital improvements estimated to cost between $7 and $12 million over 10 years.
Water rates will continue to be set by Hopewell and will increase as needed to fund the required capital improvements, required additional staff, and ongoing water debt payments.
