By Larry Barszewski
Work is underway to bring better water pressure to Manalapan’s oceanfront homes through the installation of a new water main underneath the Intracoastal Waterway from Point Manalapan to the beach.
The long-planned project should take about eight weeks to complete the crossing and the new main should be in operation in October if no unforeseen delays occur, town officials said.
Residents who haven’t left for the summer may have to deal with some headaches, including the sound of drilling as the pipe is installed, having a metal plate in the road until the project receives all its signoffs, and the blocking of some Intracoastal-side docks as the 10-inch pipe is laid out along the west side of Ocean Boulevard before installation.
“You’ll all hear about the metal plate on the road,” Town Manager Linda Stumpf warned commissioners at their April 26 meeting.
The pipe crossing the Intracoastal will run between 1660 Lands End Road and 1550 S. Ocean Blvd., just north of the curve on Ocean Boulevard.
Town commissioners approved a $628,267 contract in January for the project with DBE Utility Services out of Loxahatchee, which submitted the lowest of three bids for the work. Mock Roos & Associates, a West Palm Beach engineering consulting firm that was paid $68,000 by the town to put together the bid specifications and review those received, will also be paid up to $100,000 to handle administration of the contract.
“It’s a good project and a needed project,” Mayor Keith Waters said. It will provide better water flow to battle fires at beach properties. It’s not replacing any underwater lines, but will be an additional one, Stumpf said.
Divers began doing a subaqueous vegetation survey of the pipe’s projected path in April and the pipe project itself was set to begin the first week of May, she said.
Besides the time it took to get permits for the work through the Army Corps of Engineers and other agencies, the town had problems securing the necessary easements until 2020, when Commissioner Hank Siemon agreed to an easement on his property at 1660 Lands End Road. As part of the agreement, Siemon was able to build a dock before finishing construction of his residence at the site.
The town is going to have to let other rules slide for Siemon during construction, because officials say they’re working with a very small site and will have to take over its whole south side — up to 10 feet over the easement — during construction.
Siemon will be allowed to park three vehicles in front of the green fence on his property because he won’t have space on his lot. He’ll also be in line to receive a construction extension because the water main project is forcing him to delay installation of a septic system, pavers and other items.
In other news at the April meeting, commissioners:
• Approved new requirements eliminating the use of parking cones along construction sites and the use of stones or other devices that inhibit parking in swales in front of properties. The rules also limit which properties can have anti-parking devices in front of them at or near construction sites to the following: the actual site, the immediately adjacent properties on either side, and the properties across the street from them.
• Approved construction permit extensions for 1685 Lands End Road and 115 Spoonbill Road, the latter in part because the project’s general contractor died after the permit was pulled. Commissioners plan to approve tighter restrictions on granting extensions because they’re concerned about the negative impact long-term construction has on neighborhoods, but they’re continuing to hear from homeowners who say pandemic-related supply chain interruptions are still making it difficult to meet permit deadlines.
• Authorized the special master in code enforcement cases to hear appeals of code liens and fines and to grant reductions if warranted. Previously, property owners had to appeal to the Town Commission to try to get penalties reduced.
• Tentatively approved an increase in the time property owners have to complete work under a building permit or town-approved special exception or variance, seeking to make the deadlines more reasonable and to reduce the number of items coming back to the commission for extensions. The proposed change would increase the length of a building permit to two years instead of 18 months, and variances and special exceptions to one year, instead of six months.
• Heard from Police Chief Carmen Mattox about attempts to beef up the security presence at the guard house to the town’s Point section. In his report to commissioners, Mattox said there have been complaints about the private security firm not having a strong enough presence at the guardhouse. The guards can’t stop vehicles because it is a public road, but Mattox said he is working with the firm to have guards stationed outside the guardhouse to make them more visible. The firm wants the town to install bollards to protect outside guards from being hit by vehicles, he said.
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