From left, former at large Councilman Elroy Corbitt and east Ward Councilman Kerry Coley answer questions at the public hearing to address switching water providers on Monday, March 14. The resolution to do just that was later tabled.
ORANGE, NJ — Pennoni Associates was named on the federal subpoena served on Mayor Dwayne Warren’s administration at City Hall on Friday, July 22. The Pennsylvania-based company submitted the lowest bid for management of the city’s water utility when the mayor decided to switch from Suez, formerly the United Water Company, after soliciting proposals for the services.
But once the deal became public knowledge, opposition came to express concerns at council meetings, starting with the one Monday, Feb. 22. One of Orange’s water customers, Derrick Henry, formed the nonprofit Protect the Orange Water Supply to inform the community about the deal and to galvanize support against it in the wake of highly publicized water-supply problems across the country, as in Flint, Mich.
This opposition led former Orange City Council President April Gaunt-Butler — who was presiding over the governing body at the time — and the majority of council to table the resolution to approve the switch from Suez to Pennoni at the Feb. 22 meeting. Gaunt-Butler later held a special public hearing regarding the proposed deal on Monday, March 14, so water company customers would have a chance to voice their opinions.
“As to the decision regarding changing water companies, I am sure each council member had their own reasons for voting the way they did,” said Gaunt-Butler on Tuesday, Aug. 30. “However, my decision was based on the company’s previous water-management experience, the comparative analysis I did on the contracts and were we — Orange — getting the same or better service for our money, and the lack of due process regarding public inclusion. When making changes to a life-sustaining resource such as water, everyone needs to be included.”
Although she lost her bid for re-election in May, Gaunt-Butler was subsequently chosen to serve as the vice president of the Orange Democratic Committee.
“Yes, I did hear that Pennoni was one of several corporations included in the F.B.I. subpoena,” said Gaunt-Butler. “I’ll defer to the expertise of the F.B.I. and their investigation and let the facts determine the final outcome.”
City Council President Donna K. Williams, a member of the council who voted against approving the Warren administration’s deal with Pennoni, confirmed that Suez is still managing Orange’s water supply.
“No one was awarded the contract,” said Williams on Tuesday, Aug. 30. “The administration is preparing a new RFQ,” referring to a request for quotation, a standard business procedure that invites suppliers to bid on specific products and services.
According to East Ward Councilman Kerry Coley, regardless of which company is managing the city’s water utility, there are several problems that must be addressed as soon as possible.
“United Water is our water provider and American Water is our provider for our emergency water interconnect,” said Coley on Tuesday, Aug. 30. “The administration has not submitted a plan to the council on how we are going to get these three wells back up and running again. We have eight wells and three of them are not working. We have five operational wells. Because those three wells are not operational, from time to time, we do not get the amount of water that we need for the city. At those times, we have to tap into the American Water interconnect and the rates for doing that are much, much higher than it would cost if all eight of our wells were functioning properly.”
Attempts to contact the Warren administration for a comment on the status of its search for a new water management service provider were unsuccessful by press time this week.
Future of Orange water utility still up in the air added by Chris Sykes on
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