Lewes BPW projects $25M in upgrades
The Lewes Board of Public Works is expecting to spend nearly $25 million over the next five years to upgrade its infrastructure and improve the city’s utilities.
General Manager Darrin Gordon said most of the projects are aimed at replacing or abandoning old pipes and adapting to the area’s rapid growth.
Updating water and sewer systems is already underway. Crews are nearing completion of a two-year project to improve water and sewer lines on Front Street and Savannah Road. In 2015, the BPW replaced old valves and abandoned 4- and 6-inch water lines nearly the entire length of Savannah Road.
The planned projects will eliminate rusty water and avoid lead contamination.
In August, three homes tested positive for lead. At the time, Gordon said the problem was likely in the homes’ old pipes. However, Gordon told the board March 27 that the BPW’s pipes still have lead goosenecks on lines that date back to the mid-1950s.
“We want to get that out of our system,” he said.
Gordon has budgeted $4.69 million in capital projects for this fiscal year. The big-ticket item will be the water main abandonment on Pilottown Road from Queen Anne Avenue to New Road. He said all homes will be disconnected from the old main and reconnected to a newer main already in the ground. Gordon does not know why homes weren’t connected when the pipe was laid. Work is estimated to cost $850,000. Gordon expects that work to begin in the fall.
The BPW then plans to continue the same work from New Road to the University of Delaware. Most of that work, estimated at $930,000, will occur during the next fiscal year.
When crews move to Cedar Street, work may get a little more complicated. Slated to begin in 2021, crews will again abandon old water mains, but they’ll likely also add new mains, Gordon said.
Work on Cedar Street from the Lewes Yacht Club to Children’s Beach House is expected in 2021/22 with a price tag of $1.4 million. That project would continue from Children’s Beach House to Savannah Road the following fiscal year at an anticipated cost of $1.5 million.
Coinciding with all the water main work will be upgrades to the sewer lines.
“If we’re going to be in that road, I’d also like to look at what those sewer lines look like,” Gordon said.
He budgeted at least $420,000 in all five years to investigate and possibly upgrade sewer pipes.
Gordon also anticipates building a second water tank. Proposed to be 1 million gallons, he expects it to be built in fiscal year 2021/22. Gordon said the existing 300,000-gallon tank is doing its job, but toward the periphery of the city, water pressure weakens. Estimated cost is $850,000.
He said they’re eyeing New Road for the water tower, but no decisions have been made. The BPW also plans to add a new well on the New Road side of town, at an estimated $550,000.
Not accounted for in the five-year budget are projects that may result from a systemwide study of the BPW’s electric system. The study will identify capacity issues and offer ways to keep the system running smoothly instead of reacting to potential problems.
Gordon has budgeted $1.62 million for construction of a solar field at the BPW’s well field next to Cape Henlopen High School. BPW officials have been discussing the project with the Delaware Municipal Electric Corporation, which has researched a Lewes-specific project and offered estimates.
Gordon said the capital budget is funded by reserves, currently about $12.7 million. He said it is also from depreciation dollars the BPW has collected over the years, impact fees from new customers and anticipated increases to net assets. The board has a policy in place that prevents it from depleting reserves below $9 million, which has been identified as the amount needed for storm recovery in the case of a catastrophic event.
Gordon said no rate increases will be necessary to fund the capital projects budget.
“We have looked at several scenarios to forecast our options,” Gordon said. “We will review regularly and work to make sure there are no changes to our existing rates.”
While the BPW could fund the entire capital budget with its reserve fund, Gordon suggests taking out loans to spread out the cost. For the water main abandonment projects, he said he’s confident he can secure a 20-year loan with an interest rate at 3 percent or lower. He said it could be one loan for all projects or they could be split into multiple loans. For the well and water tower project, he said there are other potential sources available for loans.
All projects are proposed and not set in stone, Gordon said. The capital budget is only a forecast of what is expected, he said.
Anticipated projects
Water main replacement
2019/20 - Pilottown Road from Queen Anne Avenue to New Road - $850,000
2020/21 - Pilottown Road from New Road to University of Delaware - $930,000
2021/22 - Cedar Street from Lewes Yacht Club to Children’s Beach House - $1.4 million
2022/23 - Cedar Street from Children’s Beach House to Savannah Road - $1.5 million
2023/24 - Kings Highway from Savannah Road to bike path - $1.13 million
Water production
2019/20-2020/21 - New well - $550,000
2021/22 - New 1 million-gallon water tower - $850,000
Wastewater treatment plan
2020/21-2021/22 - Zenon filter replacement - $1.49 million
Electric upgrades
2019/20-2020/21 - Solar field – $1.62 million
