Developing Projects
Last month at a Township Council meeting, updates were provided on a few long-in-the-works, big-ticket projects in town.
Work on the new Department of Public Works (DPW) facility on Industrial Parkway is gradually progressing. The town recently received proposals from four design-build teams, conducting interviews with them earlier this month. While a proposal has yet to be selected, the plan is still to find a builder in time to start the project by the end of the year.
Additionally, LANAssociates was hired to evaluate the options and provide cost estimates for building a new township pool. The contract – for professional engineering, planning, and architectural services to prepare the proposal – was for $127,845. This is the first concrete step taken in regard to a new pool. While there have been committees and discussions, this is the first substantial amount of money being devoted to the project.
Both the DPW building and the new pool have been in some stage of development for many years. Each represents a dire need for the township for different reasons. The current DPW building is small and in disrepair; our employees deserve better working conditions and the town needs more space to store its equipment. For the pools, the issue is cost; the town simply cannot support two pools anymore, and if there will be only one, it should be something residents are excited to pay a membership fee to enjoy.
We are very happy to see that money is being spent on these projects – actionable items, not just ideas. It provides tangible proof of progress, evidence that, yes, in the coming years we will have a brand new pool and DPW building in Livingston. It is not just talk, these long-in-development, oft-discussed projects will eventually be a reality, hopefully sooner rather than later.
Limit Water Use
For anyone who has been living under a rock (presumably for the moisture) for the past few weeks, New Jersey, along with nearly every state in the country, is in a serious drought at the moment. As a result, we have dealt with a major ongoing wildfire as we await much needed rain.
We hope, given these dire circumstances, that residents will be mindful of their water use. Traveling through Livingston, we have been dismayed to see how many homeowners have sprinklers nearly constantly running on their lawns through this drought. Who are you trying to impress? Officials have even said that “brown is the new green” when it comes to lawns – a status symbol that means you are treating water like the precious resource that it is – and we certainly agree. We look much more fondly on those who are not putting the care of their lawns over conserving our limited and dwindling precious resource.
It is no guarantee that our wells will continue to produce sufficient water to meet demand without significant rainfall. The township has the option to declare a temporary water emergency; hopefully, that step can be avoided by cooperative residents who voluntarily restrict their usage. If we voluntarily conserve water right now, then, hopefully, formal restrictions will not need to be formally imposed.
Water is a limited resource. It’s easy to forget this when we can turn on a faucet and enjoy a seemingly endless supply of it. But the fact of the matter is, our supply of water is not endless. And it never will be. Livingston, along with the rest of New Jersey, is continuing to grow. Every year, more and more people move into the area, including our own community. We all need water for drinking, bathing, cooking, washing clothes and dishes, flushing toilets, and many other everyday activities. As the population continues to grow, so do our demands on our water supply.
Lawn watering is the single greatest drain on our water supply. According to water department officials, watering lawns actually doubles the amount of water the community uses. Consider that for a moment: half of all of our potable water does not get utilized for drinking, washing, or even filling our swimming pools; it gets dumped on grass.
Livingston has a mandatory three-days-per-week restriction on lawn watering in effect this year. More information, including the days residents are allowed to water their lawns, may be found at livingstonnj.org/lawnwatering.
It is also well worth noting that conserving water, according to town officials, decreases the amount of water that must be used from wells in violation of state PFAS thresholds, as well as prevents the need to purchase water from costly outside sources.
If we all practice a little conservation now, we can avoid the need for stricter, mandatory water restrictions in the future. And in doing so, we’re not just helping the environment – we’re helping ourselves.
