Mayor Dawn Zimmer announced that her Administration and Suez Water have agreed on the terms of a renegotiated water service contract that would provide more than $31 million in infrastructure investments and a total of over $40 million in benefits to the City of Hoboken through 2034. The agreement requires City Council approval.
“Our aging water system is in need of expensive capital upgrades, yet the $350,000 provided annually by our existing water agreement from 1994 is not even enough for emergency repairs,” said Mayor Dawn Zimmer. “I am thrilled that our proposed agreement would provide on average over $1.8 million per year for capital investments. The City has already begun the process to invest $12 million in water main improvements, and this agreement will allow us to make the investments we need to modernize our water system.”
In addition to the investment capital for water main upgrades, the renegotiated agreement will forgive $10 million owed by the City to Suez under the terms of the existing agreement for excess repair and bulk water costs. The agreement would extend the contract from 2024 to 2034.
If the new agreement is not approved, the City will remain under the terms of the existing agreement, which ends in 2024. Under those terms, Suez will be required to make only $350,000 per year in emergency repairs for the next 7 years, while the City of Hoboken would continue to be responsible for all repair costs over $350,000 annually. The City would receive no funds for the needed modernization of the water main system. In addition, the City would be responsible for the approximately $10 million that would be forgiven in the renegotiated agreement for excess bulk water and repair costs.
A memorandum of understanding agreement is expected to be presented to the City Council for its approval at the August 2nd City Council meeting.
