By Emily Rose Finn
Manalapan residents could vote in March on whether the town should borrow about $2.8 million to bring natural gas service to the Point Manalapan neighborhood.
Florida Public Utilities, which estimated the cost, said it “represents FPU’s actual project costs without any additional profit,” according to a staff memo for the Oct. 27 Town Commission meeting. Residents who choose to connect would pay a one-time fee of about $3,000.
Town staff is recommending the referendum be placed on the ballot in the upcoming municipal election. Town Manager Eric Marmer told commissioners that if the town has to front the money, voters should decide, as they will on the new Town Hall, because the town would have to borrow it.
Marmer said he asked FPU why the town should pay to reach the utility’s own customers. FPU told him that, as a public utility, it charges the cost of installation and does not make money on it.
Commissioner David Knobel recalled a project in another community that customers financed without the town’s involvement. FPU will return in December to present options.
The line would run to the street, and each homeowner would pay separately to hook up.
Commissioners were told installation would use directional boring in roughly 150-foot runs rather than tearing up roads.
The idea is not new. Point Manalapan residents turned down gas lines in a 2015 straw vote, when hookups were expected to cost about $5,000. Vice Mayor Simone Bonutti, who was on the commission then and backed the effort, revived it in 2025 when FPL announced plans to bury the Point’s electric lines.
“I have only heard people wanting it. I haven’t heard anyone against it,” Marmer said.
The staff memo refers to both propane and natural gas service; commissioners asked FPU to clarify when it returns in December.
Comments