City law requires contractor to pave

By carolyn o’connell
Staff Writer

Time’s up. Long Branch officials are warning the contractor revamping the city’s sewer system that it has reached the limit on repaving some roads that have been ripped up for the project.

According to a city ordinance, once a road is excavated, it must be repaved within 180 days. That repaving cannot be done until 90 days have passed from the date of the disturbance to ensure that the road has properly settled.

Metra Industries Inc., Little Falls, the contractor for the project, is now at that time frame for some of the roads involved in the project, according to Joseph Martone, director of the Long Branch Sewer Authority.

"We have been getting a lot of complaints about the roads that have settled but have not been paved," said Howard H. Woolley Jr., city administrator.

He added that some of the paving that the city committed to do has been put on hold until the project is complete so as to not to rip up freshly paved roads.

To ensure that the paving is done in a timely manner, city officials are issuing formal statements to Metra, directing the contractor to comply with the ordinance.

Martone noted that two sections of city streets that have undergone sewer improvements should see new paving beginning on Monday.

But the mayor and council feel that the work should have begun long ago.

At last week’s council meeting, Councilmen Michael DeStefano and John "Fazz" Zambrano voiced their dissatisfaction with the delay.

"This is horrible," DeStefano said. "Phases I and II are miles apart."

In response to his complaint, John D. VanDorpe, sewer authority engineer, said, "The contractor complains of interference with the utility work."

Martone said, "The problem we have is that the water or gas company comes in after us we do, which delays the settling process. We are not the only utility that is doing the work to upgrade services. We have also found that there are a lot of old and abandoned utilities in Long Branch that need to be removed."

According to Woolley, the utility companies were informed that they would need to coordinate the replacement of lines with the authority because, barring an emergency, once the roads are paved, they could not be disturbed for the next five years unless it were an emergency.

Woolley added that Metra Industries subcontracted the paving to Stavola Inc., Tinton Falls. That company has been busy with paving projects on the Garden State Parkway and was not able to execute the work on the roads that have settled.

Despite the delay, Martone explained that work by all the utilities should be done at the same time so as not to continually disturb the road. He added that the authority has not received many complaints as compared to Phase I, which ran from 1991 through 1993 and was approximately 7,000 linear feet less than Phase II.

Work on the main sewer line is followed by a crew that does the lateral lines, which branch off of the main line. That crew, noted Martone, had been backed up but is now 30 to 60 days behind, which is under the normal time frame.

The first streets to be paved, said Martone, are those that fall under sections 1 and 8, including Matilda Terrace, Cottage Place, Howland Avenue, Indiana Avenue and a section of Brighton Avenue two blocks west of the railroad tracks.

Avery Avenue, which was also on the list for paving, will be delayed due to the ongoing storm-drain project.

"The streets are expected to be closed for two to three days while the paving work is in progress," said Martone.

According to Martone, there are approximately 15 sections of the project; however, some sections may have only one or two roads, and the contractor still needs to complete the replacement of some sewer lines.

Martone told the mayor and council that the project within the city is 80 percent complete, but only 70 percent complete in areas where parts of the system connect with West Long Branch.

The replacement of the main line should be completed in November, with the laterals following 30 to 60 days later, noted Martone. The entire project is to be completed by May 2003.

The city will not have to contract for additional main sewer lines for the oceanfront redevelopment areas since main trunk lines were laid under Ocean Boulevard 20 years ago in anticipation of redevelopment.

"This will be a good product when it is done," said Woolley, noting the finished product will have curb-to-curb restoration.