Hopewell Borough voters approved the $6.4 million sale of the municipal water system to private utility New Jersey American Water in a Nov. 4 referendum vote.
Borough voters approved the measure by a margin of 612 to 433, according to an unofficial tally provided by Mercer County.
The vote was the culmination of a yearlong effort by Hopewell Borough to educate residents on the state of the water system and why the borough had concluded that the best decision it could make would be to sell the system to NJAW, which is part of American Water, a national water utility that serves customers in 14 states.
The sale includes physical assets including wells, wellhouses, water treatment equipment, water mains, fire hydrants, water meters, water storage tanks and the land thereon. The sale does not include the sewer system or the water itself.
NJAW in turn has said that it will spent at least $7 million over five years to rectify infrastructure issues in the water system, including lead service lines, contamination in multiple municipal wells, and installation of needed filtration systems to deal with contaminants known as PFAS and PFOS, which have been detected in borough water.
The borough has said that it would use the proceeds from the sale to pay down existing municipal debt. According to the borough, this would eliminate nearly a million dollars a year in municipal debt-service payments.
“I want to thank borough council, our town’s professionals and especially Council President (David) Mackie and Councilwoman (Sheri) Hook for the two years of work that went into studying, planning, and communicating with our community on the option our voters have now selected to provide water and affordable infrastructure improvements to the borough going forward,” Mayor Ryan Kennedy told Community News the day after the vote.
“The level of engagement and consideration our community brought to this important issue, and the unprecedented voter turnout, make me proud of the work everyone has done — whether it was for or against the sale — and proud to be part of our borough. I look forward to working with our entire community as we determine our priorities and the opportunities that will come from retiring our municipal debt.”
The Hopewell Borough Public Water Alliance, a grassroots organization opposed to the water sale, had advocated for voters to reject the referendum. Via a website, savehopewellwater.com, the alliance argued that the borough had not done enough to explore alternatives to selling the system, and that the cost of losing control of the water system would be greater to residents in the long run than the proceeds from the sale.
J. David Waldman, an active member of the alliance, sent the following statement to Community News: “While we are disappointed that the voters have chosen to sell Hopewell Borough’s water system to NJAW, an irrevocable decision that will forever change our community, we are grateful and inspired by the civic engagement and thoughtful debate that the referendum process forced.
“We urge all who live, work, and own businesses in our borough to continue to advocate for transparency and discourse and to stay involved as our elected officials have many important decisions in the months and years ahead.”
New Jersey American Water president Mark McDonough has told Community News that if the referendum should pass, it would take until at least the middle of 2026 for NJAW to complete the acquisition, with remediation and repairs not starting until after that.
“I want to thank the residents, Mayor Kennedy, Council President Mackie, Councilwoman Sheri Hook, the rest of the council members, and the many community leaders who supported this referendum, for entrusting us with the water system,” McDonough said in a statement shared after the vote’s passage. “We will be working with the borough to begin integration efforts and will be ready to get to work the day we transfer ownership. We look forward to fulfilling our promises and providing safe, affordable and reliable service to all of Hopewell Borough.”
