News

By Dan Moffett
    
    Manalapan and Boynton Beach are looking into a deal to consolidate their water utility services and provide benefits to both communities.
    Under the plan, Boynton Beach would take over Manalapan’s water plant and infrastructure, at Hypoluxo Road and U.S. 1, adding hundreds of new customers to the city’s growing regional system.
    Manalapan stands to benefit from significant debt relief — about $4.5 million of red ink that would come off the books when Boynton writes a check — and also relief from the headaches a small town has trying to run its own utility and deliver reliable service. Both communities should benefit from economies of scale.
    Colin Groff, Boynton Beach’s utilities director, told Manalapan town commissioners on Aug. 25 that from a technical standpoint, an acquisition deal is well within reach.
    “There is nothing significantly difficult to get through,” Groff said. “There is no wall.”
    There is, however, a prickly issue about rates.
    Boynton Beach sells its water on a tiered rate structure mandated by the state to promote conservation, under which the per-gallon cost of water rises with thresholds of use. For example, each gallon used over 40,000 per month could cost roughly three times as much as those used under the first 10,000.
    Groff said Boynton’s system, which serves about 102,000 customers, has “the lowest rates in the county,” and most Manalapan homeowners — perhaps as many as 70 percent — would likely see their bills fall or stay the same under the proposed new system. However, big users could see a substantial increase.
    This means that, while homeowners on Point Manalapan are likely to be paying less under the Boynton plan, homeowners along the ocean with large properties, large lawns and large irrigation systems are going to pay more.
    Mayor David Cheifetz said the plan “throws off a lot of cash, but we don’t really need the cash.” Cheifetz said while the millions in debt relief for the town is welcome, what the commission really wants to see is lower rates for customers.
    “Conceptually, this does make a lot of sense,” Mayor Pro Tem Peter Isaac said of the acquisition, “if we can go to the homeowner and say rates are not going to go up.”
    Groff said a typical customer with a 2,500-square-foot home and four occupants can expect to pay about $80 a month for Boynton water, which compares favorably with current Manalapan rates.
    One possible solution to reduce high-use rates is for the town to take the money from the acquisition and create a “rate stabilization fund” that might soften the blow for oceanfront homeowners. Groff told the commissioners that he will give them more specific rate figures to consider for their Sept. 22 meeting.
    In other business:
    Work on replacing the Audubon Causeway bridge is facing more delays. Isaac told the commission that Drawdy Construction of Lake Worth, the project’s contractor, is tied up on another job and won’t be able to start work until Sept. 20 at the earliest.
    Isaac said Drawdy has given the town a “drop dead” start date of Oct. 20 for the 10-month project.
    “We are still in a waiting mode,” he said.