Borough Considers Mapping Utilities

The is considering mapping all of its utilities as per a recommendation of Borough Engineer Paul Darmofalski.

Darmofalski gave a presentation at the council's meeting Tuesday and said that many of the borough's utility maps are more than 50 years old while other utilities have never been mapped.

"You have over 39 miles in roadway," he said. "It's not acceptable and really needs to be brought up to speed."

Mapping would be helpful in situations when lines break and the borough needs to locate the break and determine where to complete the fix. The borough does have some mapping of its water line, though Darmofalski said it is antiquated.

Darmofalski provided an estimate of $173,000 total to map all of the borough's utilities with DMC Associates, Inc. He also said that many surrounding boroughs, including Butler, have completed mapping and used DMC. Additionally, Darmofalski said DMC has agreed for the borough to make payments in four installments beginning March of 2012 if they decide to use them for the work. 

As DMC has surveyed land for the borough before, Borough Administrator Ted Ehrenburg said it would be beneficial for the borough to use DMC since they already have digital maps complete of the borough that would eliminate a great deal of the work involved in the utility mapping.

Water and Sewer Superintendent Rocco Di Gregorio agreed with Darmofalski's assessment and said that the mapping would be helpful.

"A lot of the maps for the whole town are very old," he said. "We don't even really know what shuts off what."

Di Gregorio said he spoke to a company about mapping three years ago and received a similar estimate, indicating that this was a good price. Di Gregorio also said the only mapping line that is accurate in the borough is the water line in Morse Lakes.

"It's something you're going to need. You're long overdue," said Darmofalski.

Council President Linda Huntly asked that Darmofalski get a few more estimates from other companies before the council proceeds, though the council seemed to agree that mapping should be done.

Mayor Jonathan Dunleavy agreed with Darmofalski about the necessity of the project so that come time to make improvements to the infrastructure, it will be easier to know where all the lines are.

"We know our infrastructure's failing. We know improvements need to be made," he said.

Councilman Bernie Vroom also agreed and said the maps could not only help when issues occur, but help prevent them in the future as well.

"A lot of municipalities take their maps and go based on the age of their lines to take preventative measures," he said. "Again, if you have those maps, it's a lot easier."