Water rate will increase 79%

HOWELL - Barring any further legal action, customers of the Parkway Water Co. will see their water rate rise about 79 percent, according to state Board of Public Utilities spokesman Eric Hartsfield.

Hartsfield said the average Parkway Water customer should expect to see his annual water bill rise to about $525, up from $294.

Representatives of Parkway Water, which is based in Marlboro and provides water service to 1,800 customers in the Ramtown section of Howell, had been seeking a 105 percent rate increase.

Following a series of public hearings, a rate increase of 83.4 percent was recommended. Information was then forwarded to the the BPU's Board of Commissioners, which reviewed the figures.

"It was cut [from 83.4 to 79 percent]," Hartsfield said. "The board can accept, reject or modify [the rate increase] and they modified it. It is a very substantial increase, but the problem is they have to purchase water."

Parkway Water officials have previously said the higher rates are needed as the firm continues to buy water from other sources in order to serve its customers in Howell.

A deal to sell the water company and its customer base in Howell to the Brick Township Municipal Utilities Authority fell apart after officials in Brick became concerned about possible future litigation stemming from radium contamination in wells that Parkway Water had been dealing with over the past three years.