Jersey City homeowners will see spike of at least $144/yr in water bill
Jersey City residents will see a 24 percent jump in their water/sewer bill starting on Jan. 1.
That’s due to the Jersey City Municipal Utilities Authority Board of Commissioners voting at their board meeting on Thursday to raise the combined water/sewer rate from this year’s estimated $6.57 per 100 cubic feet to $8.15 per 100 cubic feet, an increase of 24 percent.
Specifically, the sewer rate will soar from this year’s $3.25 per ccf (100 cubic feet) to $4.70 per ccf, a 45 percent hike. The MUA is responsible for overseeing the city’s water and sewer operations, with United Water contracted to focus on the city’s water system.
According to MUA Executive Director Dan Becht, the increase is going into effect because of various factors — from shrinking sewer connection fees projected for 2010 to the increased costs of upgrading the city’s century-old sewer system.
Becht also defended the increase, saying the sewer rate had been at levels seen during the 1990s and had not kept up with cost-of-living increases.
Homeowners will be paying a minimum of $144 more on their yearly bill. Those homeowners and others affected by the increase would have had an opportunity to speak on changing rate before the commissioners voted, but the board meeting was apparently advertised as a 5 p.m. public hearing. The only member of the public present was a reporter.
Taking issue with the increase was City Councilman Steven Fulop, who had heard rumors of an increase and that Becht had informed Mayor Jerramiah Healy about a hike in the rate but not the council.
“I don’t understand how the MUA could do this at families are struggling in this tough economy,” Fulop said. “At the very least, the MUA should have made a presentation to the City Council on why they are doing this.
Fulop plans to address this issue at the next City Council caucus scheduled for Nov. 9. –
Swine flu vaccine still slow in coming
T here are mixed reports as to whether local doctors and health departments have the swine flu vaccine available, and it seems slow in coming. However, there is a continuously updated state site that will tell you when the swine flu vaccine is available in Hudson County, and you can also check for specific towns. It also gives you places to get the regular flu vaccine.
So click each day to check where and when you can get it: http://web.doh.state.nj.us/apps2/flu/fluschedules.aspx
Legislative aide busted by funky fish tank
A legislative aide for an Essex County assemblywoman was arrested last week after a month-long investigation that began with police finding $700,000 and filed-down handguns in a North Bergen storage unit. $100,000 was hidden in a fishtank, from which officers obtained fingerprints.
Middlesex County sheriff’s officers arrested Ekow Yankey, 33, of New Brunswick last weekend after North Bergen Police released a warrant. Yankey had worked as a legislative aide for Essex County Assemblywoman Cleopatra Tucker. Tucker has since terminated Yankey from her payroll.
This warrant stemmed from a sequence of occurrences at the Extra Space Storage Facility on River Road near 83rd Street in North Bergen. The storage locker’s contract had expired, and after numerous written requests for the individual to vacate the unit or pay the bill, management cut the lock, said Capt. Robert Dowd.
Management found a gym bag, a fish tank, and a wooden fish tank stand. Inside of the gym bag were two handguns that had their serial numbers defaced with what police believed to be a drill, officials said.
In the fish tank was $100,000, while hidden within the wooden stand was an additional $600,000, police said.
Police were able to lift fingerprints from the fish tank. Dowd said that when Yankey allegedly rented the unit in a false name, the storage facility had fingerprinted him.
Fingerprints brought up Yankey, along with a 1998 drug distribution conviction, police said.
For more on this story, read this past weekend’s North Bergen Reporter or click www.hudsonreporter.com.