So far, efforts to find ads for water tower a wash Officials have been trying to sell space to pay for paint job BY KAREN E. BOWES Staff Writer "I think the council has to revisit that area, to forgo that investment for certain types of advertising now that we've chosen to put the flag up there." - Joseph Sheridan Councilman KEYPORT - Once an advocate of using advertising as a way to pay for repainting the borough's water tower, Mayor Robert Bergen now says the idea is stalled. Councilman Joseph Sheridan inquired about its status at the Feb. 6 meeting. "It went away and wasn't talked about," Sheridan said. Bergen said the only interested advertiser was an 800 phone number for carpeting, a business he did not feel was suitable for the water tower. "I think what happened is, at the time, the council decided to put a flag up there," Bergen said. "Now that the flag's up there, the question is what do you want to put around it? I think the council has to revisit that area, to forgo that investment for certain types of advertising now that we've chosen to put the flag up there." When asked if the flag could be painted over to make room for an ad, Sheridan said it was possible, but that most residents seemed to like having the flag on the tower. The idea to use advertising as a way to pay for repainting the water tower has been kicking around since at least March 2004. At that time, the Keyport Business Alliance (KBA) expressed interest in attracting a national sponsor. After the KBA's plans fell through, the idea was revisited during a January 2006 council meeting. That night, Bergen urged the council to allow advertising on the water tower as a way to save money. Bergen said the borough was in the process of contacting advertisers but was also "looking if someone had a personal contact, like a brother or a cousin." Later in 2006, the council voted to hire engineering consultant Hatch Mott McDonald, of Millburn, to repaint the water tower, sans advertising. Former Councilman Joseph Wedick was on the council at the time the matter was decided. "I voted on this thing and I thought it was going to pay for itself with the advertising," Wedick said last week. "Obviously that's not going to happen right away." Wedick called the contract to Hatch Mott McDonald a "no bid contract." According to New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission records, the firm contributed $2,000 to Bergen and his running mates' campaign in October. The borough bonded $600,000 for the work, of which approximately $300,000 was used for the water tower job, according to Sheridan. Bergen reminded Wedick the borough chose to hire a consultant because the engineer reported lead leaking into the water supply. "We're talking about lead in water that our children drink," Bergen said. Wedick also asked Bergen how much the borough still owes on the $600,000 bond. Bergen replied that the borough is not required to start paying it off until next year. At one point during the discussion, Bergen produced a galvanized pipe from a plastic bag, holding it up for the audience to see. Bergen said the pipe was like many water pipes in town - aging and in need of repair. "Here's a galvanized waterline taken out of a pipe today," Bergen said. "We have a lot of these lines, a tremendous amount of expense to this town for water and sewer utilities." He added, "This was cut out of a water main break we had this week. We have problems with waterlines that we don't even know we have." Bergen spoke about the pipe problem for a few minutes. "Some of the meetings we're going to be having in the next couple of weeks are over some of the major costs we're going to have to deal with over the next couple of years," the mayor said. As for the water tower, Sheridan said he will continue to remind the mayor and council about the possibility of advertising as a way to save money. "It's something that I will bring up from time to time until they tell me it's dead," Sheridan said.