Pennington Borough officials have unanimously adopted a $1.81 million bond ordinance to improve the conditions of Burd Street, Abey Drive and Kings Court.
During a Pennington Borough Council meeting, Council President Glen Griffiths, Councilman Charles Marciante, Councilwoman Elizabeth Semple, Councilwoman Catherine Chandler, Councilwoman Beverly Mills and Councilwoman Deborah Gnatt voted “yes” to approve the ordinance on May 6.
“The bond ordinance sounds huge, but what you do not see in that is the $1,038,900 in grants from the state Department of Transportation for municipal aid. So it is not like we are going out an immediately spending $1.8 million that we would have to raise the cap for,” said Mayor Joseph Lawver.
He said they bonded for $1.8 million because of the engineer’s projected estimate of the projects cost.
“We will try to scale it back to be closer to the total grant amount. We do not expect to spend the full $1.8 million,” Lawver said.
Reconstruction will take place to improve Abey Drive, Kings Court and Burd Street.
“When we do a road reconstruction project, it costs us two times as much as if we had caught the road with the base layer being intact and good. We have been taking a two pronged approach with the roads the past two years,” he said. “We have been working with the county and also using our municipal aid from the state DOT to address the roads that have gone to far and reconstruct them.”
Abey Drive and Kings Court are bonded for $1 million with $693,900 being covered by the state DOT grant. Burd Street is bonded for $793,500 with $345,00 in grant money set to cover some of the cost.
“To get these grants is critical. We could not afford to do these projects without that funding. We are grateful for every penny that we get. This is fantastic support that the state gives to us to maintain our infrastructure,” Lawver said. “We want to catch up on the worst roads and maintain the good roads in a cost efficient manner.”
The Burd Street reconstruction will be done during 2019 while Abey Drive and Kings Court work will begin at a later date, according to officials.
