Lewes BPW seeks additional state funding for pipe replacement

Plans to replace 100-year-old water pipes in Lewes’ Burton subdivision are inching forward, with the Board of Public Works voting to increase the amount in an application for a state loan.

The board is hoping to get a total of $8.5 million to fund pipe replacement on Park and Johnson avenues from Fourth Street to Burton Avenue.

The Fourth Street main project is already budgeted for fiscal year 2026-27.

Board President Tom Panetta said this is a good time to apply for the State Revolving Fund loan because interest rates are running about 2%.

Burton residents have been demanding new pipes for years. They claim deterioration is tainting their drinking water and making some people sick.

Many of the Burton residents packed BPW’s May 22 meeting, holding up photos that show the inside of the pipes. The photos show samples, known as coupons, that were recently cut from pipes on Johnson Avenue.

Park Avenue resident Brenda Azfal said she and many of her neighbors are part of a group called the Burton Clean Water Committee. They publish a monthly newsletter to keep everyone informed of the latest developments.

Engineer Charlie O’Donnell of George, Miles & Buhr said the photos show tuberculation, which is a chemical reaction that causes oxide buildup in cast-iron pipes. He was referring to a coupon taken from pipes in the Park Avenue-DuPont Avenue area.

“It is reasonably the same in other pipes in the system,” O’Donnell said.

He said the pipes under Johnson Avenue are about 75 years old. He said the Park Avenue pipes were installed between 1904-22, and are some of the oldest in the city.

“We are putting a plan in place to correct what was done in the past and move forward,” Panetta said.

He said the loan application will be submitted in June. He said the BPW should know by October if it has been accepted.

BPW General Manager Austin Calaman said the loan would be a 60-40 split: the board would get 60% for the pipe replacement, and the city would use the remaining 40% for repaving, sidewalks, curbs and gutters. The city would repay its share of the loan to BPW.

“We’re cooperating with BPW. They’re going to follow the priority based on the safety of the citizens,” said Mayor Andrew Williams. “Hopefully, we can work with them with whatever financing they come up with from the state.”

Calaman said if all the funding, agency approvals and bidding go as scheduled, work should start in the fall of 2025 or winter of 2026.