Lake Neepaulin residents faced with $900K dam bill

WANTAGE — More than 700 township property owners will pay 90 percent of $1 million for the Lake Neepaulin Dam over the next 20 years.

Residents commented they are unhappy that Friends of Lake Neepaulin, a non-for-profit lake community organization, is only required to pay 10 percent of the loan, although Lake Neepaulin is privately owned.

On top of that, resident Kathy Gorman said some people in the R2 zone, do not benefit from the lake. If there was a flood, it only would affect a food market, car wash, the Sussex County Airport and others downstream. She said these "others" are not placed in the R-2 zone and do not have to pay a special assessment.

Lawsuits have been filed back and forth regarding the tax inequity, and the residents are told the R2 zone is determined by the tax assessor.

Township Tax Assessor Kristy Lochburner declined comment on the R2 zone "because completion of the dam has not come through."

"Back in 2008, 09 and 10, the assumption was made on our part that the R2 residential zone would be the area affected," Administrator Jim Doherty said. "The information presented to date by the township represents scenarios based on anticipated parameters. They do not represent any final or formal position of the township regarding who will [or will not] be included in the special assessment."

Doherty said it will be up to Lockburner to present justifications and defense against challenges once she has determined who will be included in the special assessment. The special assessment is separate from property tax.

Thomas Jable, chairman of the Friends of Lake Neepaulin Board of Trustees, said to decommission the dam would have cost nearly as much as the rehabilitation.

Without the fixed dam, fish, wildlife and the Wallkill Watershed would not have been preserved. Most importantly, he said, the public continues to have fire protection because two dry hydrants have been placed on the Lake.

Lack of oversight?
Property owners also are concerned about the alleged lack of oversight regarding $750,000 of un-itemized bills that relate to the dam.

Gorman told Mayor Ron Bassani and the Township Committee about 18 disbursements from contractors to the state Department of Environmental Protection for the Lake Neepaulin Dam. She was concerned because the township is cosigning a loan for $1 million in expenditures, with no oversight of the huge amounts of un-itemized bills.

So far, $750,000 has been spent in materials and labor on the Lake Neepaulin Dam.

She said the DEP believes it is the town's responsibility to oversee spending on the dam.

"With $1 million on the line, someone should be paying attention to bills between the state and the Friends of Lake Neepaulin cosigners. What happens if there is a default, when there is no oversight on the part of the town? The bill says what we owe, and it should be certified by someone else."

Attorney Michael Garofalo said if the loan defaults, the property would become the township’s. The Committee would then determine what to do next.

Mayor Ron Bassani requested Doherty review the un-itemized bill situation.

Later Bassani explained that Lake Neepaulin is the only lake in Wantage and the dam needed to be built due to the N.J. Safe Dam Act, which would have required the lake to be drained.

Officials from the DEP could not be reached for comment.