Hopewell Borough is entering into negotiations with New Jersey American Water (NJAW) after reviewing three proposals on the potential sale of its water system.
Council members approved a resolution selecting NJAW at the governing body’s February meeting.
The borough will look to work out terms of a deal during negotiations that council members would be comfortable bringing to the community and for a referendum in November, according to Mayor Ryan Kennedy.
“Because the next phase of this process under WIPA (Water Infrastructure Protection Act) involves a negotiation with the company we are going to select this evening, we have to wait until the end of the negotiations to go through all of the details of their proposal largely because they are not yet finalized,” the mayor said.
“We are going to be going back to them to get the best deal we can for our community and once that happens the council will review [the deal] and potentially approve bringing it forward to the community.”
Once there is a deal, the borough would then start the process to receive state approval on the terms of the proposal for a potential sale.
“..ultimately if all those things happen, [we will] put it on the ballot in November for our community to decide if it’s what is right for this community,” Kennedy said.
The earliest the borough will act on the terms and present them to the community will be in the spring. Then the borough would need to get the state’s approval before moving forward in the process, the mayor said.
“It would be in March that we would need to approve a contract and then it would be submitted to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP),” said Lisa Maddox, attorney for Hopewell Borough.
The borough entered the WIPA process for the potential sale of its water system in summer 2024.
WIPA authorizes certain owners of water or wastewater systems to enter into a long-term lease contract or sell their water or wastewater assets to a private or public entity.
To qualify for the WIPA process, Hopewell Borough needed to qualify for one of five emergent conditions.
NJDEP had determined in June 2024 that the borough qualified with emergent condition No. 3, which states “the present deficiency or violation of the maximum containment levels established pursuant to the Safe Water Drinking Act concerning the availability or potability of water, or concerning provision of water at adequate volume of pressure.”
Residents had gathered 222 petition signatures by an Aug. 5, 2024 deadline to force a referendum vote before any potential sale.
Through the WIPA process the borough released a request for qualifications for interested potential bidders for a potential sale of the borough’s water system. Hopewell Borough accepted the qualifications of New Jersey American Water, Aqua New Jersey, and Veolia Water New Jersey, Inc.
In January, the council authorized the borough to issue RFPs (requests for proposals) to the three companies on the potential sale of the borough’s water system.
Out of the three proposals and possible terms, the borough selected to enter into negotiations with NJAW.
The Borough Council chose NJAW’s proposal for several reasons: a substantial capital investment in the system, a commitment to provide ratepayers with immediate and significant rate relief, the proposal offering a competitive purchase price that enables the borough to cover a significant amount of debt, and a customer service plan that meets the needs and expectations of the borough, according to the resolution.
