Published in the Asbury Park Press
By Jean Mikle
TOMS RIVER BUREAU
Total of $2,800 due to utility
DOVER TOWNSHIP — The Township Council has delayed paying about $2,800 in United Water Toms River bills, with Councilman John "Sevas" Sevastakis saying he wants to review the documents further before voting on them.
"I pulled them because I wanted to look at them more closely," Sevastakis said.
He made the motion to table $2,806.55 worth of United Water bills, which the council had planned to pay at that Tuesday session .
The bills are for United's water service to township buildings between May 1 and June 1.
The council's next regular meeting is July 11, and council members could vote to pay the bills then. The council has also scheduled a special budget meeting for July 6.
"I wanted to see which buildings these were for and look more closely at their charges and what is going on," Sevastakis said.
In 2003, the then-Township Committee withheld more than $90,000 worth of payments to Jersey Central Power & Light Co. following a massive July 4 weekend power outage that plagued the Ortley Beach section and parts of East Dover. Sevastakis said this could be a similar situation with United Water.
"With everything that is going on with United Water, we feel that why should we be paying for services we're not getting?" asked Councilman Michael J. Fiure.
The township sued United Water June 2, after 7,400 homes in northwestern Dover and sections off Hooper Avenue had low water pressure for several hours on Memorial Day, May 29. Township officials have said they were unable to reach United Water representatives for hours and did not initially know what was causing the low water pressure.
United Water officials have said a computer malfunction led operators to believe a well was pumping water into the system when it was not. High demand and the nonworking well led water levels to drop to 2 feet in a storage tank on Indian Hill Road, while another tank at Routes 9 and 70 was dry.
The township's suit asked Superior Court Judge Vincent J. Grasso to appoint an independent authority to oversee the water company's daily operations.
Grasso did not agree to that demand at a June 13 court hearing, but he did permit the township to appoint an "overseer" to review United Water documents and report to Dover officials about the company's operations.
Grasso ordered the water company to pay the overseer's salary. Council members and Mayor Paul C. Brush have been reviewing applications from individuals interested in being appointed to the position and are expected to make a decision on an appointment early next month.
Published in the Asbury Park Press 06/29/06
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