Deptford council passed a resolution on Jan. 23 to award a contract for work on the Oak Valley storm drain improvement project.
The construction portion of the project will be completed by Seacoast Construction Inc., based out of East Brunswick. Sewell-based Bryson and Yates Consulting will handle the engineering.
“Since it got awarded tonight, we’ll get the contracts out to the contractor right away,” said Jon Bryson, Bryson and Yates’ president, of Seacoast. “We did have some preliminary conversations with them, and they seem eager to go as soon as they can.
“The biggest timeline holdup is really gonna be supplies, with getting structures and piping in,” he added. “We’re putting in a number of new storm structures out there, eight more additional ones to give you an idea of what the project is. Typically, they take about six to eight weeks to come in, so I imagine that is the timeline we’ll be looking at to get them started out there.”
But Bryson explained there are some issues with piping already at the Oak Valley site.
“The basin design, the way it was installed and originally designed by the original design engineer, had some flaws to it where the outlet structure does not allow that system to have an underdrain in it,” he said, “and the outlet structure sits higher than the inflow pipes, so you really have an issue with that.
“The way to remedy that underdrain and get a means to drain that is to basically remove that outlet structure,” Bryson added. “Replace it and all the downstream piping. In order to do that, they’re going to have to go back to the NJDEP (New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection), because that project had permits to discharge the wetlands and the permits associated with providing the infiltration part of that basin. It should not have been designed as infiltration.”
The project likely won’t get off the ground until the DEP approves the new changes, a process that can take up anywhere between six months to a year, according to Bryson.
“That’s very disappointing,” said Mayor Paul Medany.
Other resolutions at the council meeting were approved, including one authorizing petty cash funds for the calendar year of 2023. Two ordinances were also introduced: One involved acceptance of a deed of roadway dedications from the landings at Cooper Street LLC, and the other approved installation of stop signs at the intersection of Superior Way at Friendly’s Egress.
