The residents of Lewes’ Burton Subdivision applaud the resolve of the mayor and many on city council to replace our aged and obsolete water pipes as demonstrated at this week’s city/Board of Public Works joint meeting. We question why BPW did not assure its support.
At the meeting, more than two dozen Burton Subdivision residents crowded the room with dirty water filters, rusty water samples and statements of the negative impact on their lives because BPW has failed to give us quality water. Many said they have lived with the bad water and promises to clean it for decades. An elderly man testified that he would be dead before we received clean water – a thought shared by many in our neighborhood.
BPW claimed it didn’t have the money to replace the 50- to 70-year-old metal pipes on our four streets, citing costs of many tens of millions. But that is grossly inflated. Using its data from BPW’s most recent application to the state’s Clean Water and Drinking Water Revolving Loan Funds in March 2024, it costs BPW about $1,280 per foot to replace a city water line. Estimating each of the four streets in my neighborhood at 600 feet means the cost to install plastic pipes is about $2.4 million, an amount well within BPW’s budget – without a loan.
The role of local government is basically threefold: 1. to safeguard our water and our health; 2. to fund our first responders; and 3. to maintain our streets and sidewalks.
A fancy new municipal building or annexing areas to enlarge our existing city should only be considered after the local government has met its core obligations to its taxpayer residents. The time is now for BPW to work with the city and replace our obsolete water pipes which negatively impact the quality of residents’ water and their daily lives. All of Burton deserves quality water now!
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