PUC Blocks 25Pet. Water-. Rate Hike 3 County Road Jobs
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IPettber Distribution » ugi. ttttpmtam «. Suny M*. H|| h b Ike mkMliMl^. Fai5r Today low In the He. Tomer- MDBANK n>w, rubble CIOUAWM, U(h la 21,150 to* mlMls. Friday, vuiaUe cloudiness, warm, more humid. 1 JMHMT nuawMt/xuur-jar. «• See weather, page J. DIAL 741-0010 VOL. 86, NO. 24 £*tul •»"»• »»">" Uir«iji> rrldir. uami Claii Putin Bmn RED BANK, N. J., WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 1963 PAGE ONE ________ " *** * •"* " AdiUUonH MaUlnj OIUco. 7c PER COPY But Lesser Increase Is Authorized PUC Blocks 25Pet. Water-. Rate Hike By BILL HAGEMAN Since May the PUC has been weighing the evidence — which return on the fair value of its property; to permit the com- the fair value of property used or useful in rendering serv- NEWARK — The state Board of Public Utility Commis- itself is weighty. In 17 hearings, 1,747 pages of testimony pany to attract necessary capital at reasonable cost; and to ice. sioners has blocked a proposed 25 per cent increase in water and 64 exhibits were presented. protect the company's investment from continued attrition Mr. Mausner suggested a rate hase of (12,527,504. His rates asked by the Monmouth Consolidated Water Company. Most of the sessions in the state office building here caused by inflation and new construction. figure reflected original cost of the utility's property with de- However, in a decision and order handed down yester- were devoted to the cross examination of water company In anoiher rale case in 1959, Monmouth Consolidated ductions for items he alleged were improperly included juch day, the PUC authorized a lesser hike. witnesses by lawyers representing the public interest. sought a 50 per cent hike and was granted a 28 per cent in- as excessive engineering fees and property not currently In October, Monmouth Consolidated requested the high- Elliot L. Katz of Long Branch was public rate counsel, crease. The PUC found a rate base, or that inveslment upon used or useful. er rate schedule in an effort to realize additional annual appointed to that post by the state attorney general, and Mil- which a higher rate of return was asked, of $10,168,864 and Mr. Katz submitted that an original cost figure of $16,- revenue of $650,004. ton A. Mausner of Red Bank appeared for the Municipal Pub- said a six per cent rate of return would be fair. 610,000 would be fair. The PUC has ruled that the utility is entitled to $219,925 lic Service Co-ordinating Committee. At that time the company had embarked on a major Monmouth Consolidated calculated its rate base four more than it is getting. Committee membership includes Red Bank (with only construction program including the expansion of the Swim- ways. The lowest, original cost, was $18,026,886. The firm The authorization is for approximately 33.8 per cent of four Monmouth Consolidated customers), Middletown, ming River reservoir and construction of Glendola reservoir. also submitted a net investment figure of $19,786,603; a re- the requested amount so the firm's 45,000 customers may ex- Shrewsbury, New Shrewsbury, Little Silver, Fair Haven, The cost of the program was estimated at $4,500,000 of placement cost (the cost to duplicate the water works with pect the price of their water to go up about 8% per cent. Rumson and Oceanport. which $500,000 had already been expended, but in 1962, when substitutions of more modern equipment) of $31,075,260; and To take advantage of the increase, the water company Other Monmouth Consolidated customers, in addition to the work was completed, the actual cost was found to be 50 a reproduction cost (the cost to duplicate the water works must file a new schedule of rates with the PUC. If it com- many of its 2,713 hydrants and 648 miles of mains, are located per cent higher than the estimate. exactly) of $34,034,771 plies with yesterday's order, the rate change will take effect in Asbury Park, Long Branch, Bradley Beach, Deal, Eaton- Between 1959 and 1962, the firm's utility plant investment The PUC, afler making the adjustments It felt were 15 days later. town, Interlaken, Monmouth Beach, Neptune City, Sea Increased by $7,414,974. This, the PUC said, appears lo have justified, settled on a rate base of $17,017,274. Monmouth Consolidated's original rate revision was to Bright, West Long Branch, Loch Arbour, Ocean Township, been one of the major factors which motivated the request Monmouth Consolidated asked for a rate of return of have become effective Dec. 1, 1962. The PUC suspended the Shrewsbury Township and Neptune Township. for higher rates. 6.5 per cent on the rate base and the PUC found that the ex- change until June 1, then' to July 1, and finally to Aug; 1. The utility claimed it had to hike water prices in those The determination of a new rate base wan a major Is- isting rate of return on fhe rate base it selected would be Hearings commenced Dec. 3 and lasted until May 10. towns to permit the company to earn a reasonable rate of sue in this year's hearings. That factor has been defined as (See BLOCKS, Page 3) Korean Situation 3 County Road Jobs Set; Watched WASHINGTON (AP)-U.S. mil- itary chiefs watched today for signs indicating whether the out- break of shooting incidents in Ko- PlanToll Highway Study rea might foreshadow major ac- TRENTON — Gov. Richard J. Hughej has an- Announced for that program was the sum of tion by the Communists. Main feature of the program Is some adroit nounced a walloping $205 million highway building $2,350,000, and the slate said "construction con- bookkeeping that allowed the slate to pick up $83.7 So far, the disposition in the program for the coming year, topping the state's tracts are to be awarded this fall." million In federal aid for 1963-64, plus 10 months of Pentagon is to regard the Inci- previous record high road program by more than Aiiother major program is to be the ^Spending its $86.4 million in federal aid for 196445. dents this week as isolated. $60 million. of $1,250,000 for a start on right of way acquisition The matching of advance federal funds ac- Any further ambushes by North Three highway projects affecting Monmouth and widening the 12-mile stretch along Rt. 33 from counts for the fact that the state was able to pro- Korea's Red marauders or en- Hightstown to Freehold, which now is only two gram road construction topping last year's total by counters with them could raise the County, costing a total of $4,050,000, are provided for under the program. lanes wide. $85 million and beating the all-time record of four level of concern, sources said, be- Set up is $450,000 to supplement funds previ- years ago by $63 million. cause they might point to develop- At the same time, Gov. Hughes said a study ously provided for construction of a Rt. 35 over- The biggest allocation of $44 million will go to ment of an offensive pattern. will be. given to the possibility of building a toll pass at Maple PI. and Broadway, Keyport. Interstate Routs 78, dragging along for the past The Joint Chiefs of Staff were highway from Trenton to the Asbury Park area. In discussing the possible new toll highway two years with little work while the state tried to being kept abreast of the situation Highway Commissioner Dwight R. G. Palmer said from Trenton, the governor said the proposal has find an alignment that would placate bitter opposi- along the demilitarized zone, but his department would make traffic studies to see been studied before but that previously it was de- tion in Newark. for the present were leaving the if there would be enough riders to make the road cided that such a road could not pay for itself. At a meeting Tuesday, Hughes displayed a re- reins in the hands of U.S. com- pay. Consultants have said that 10,000 cars a day vised alignment for Route 78 In Newark which got manders in Korea. The largest program affecting Monmouth Coun- are needed to reach a break-even point on a toll partial approval and partial disapproval from New- There has been no special alert BURIED .ALIVE 80 HOURS — Rescuer, pull 13-year-old ty is completion of the dualization of Rt. 9 from road. Mr. Palmer said consultants had estimated ark's Mayor Hugh J. Addonlzio. But Hughes indi- of American forces outside Korea, its intersection with Rt. 18 at Madison Township to that traffic on Rt. 33 — the major Trenton-Asbury cated the state has gone as far as it can in trying Yugoslav girl'from ruint of quake-ihattared building in authorities said. a point that the State Highway Department identi- Park route would reach only 6,400 cars by 1980, but to please Newark, and will now proceed with the Skopje where ih» wai buried for 80 houri. Girl was he added that consultants have been wrong in traf- road. • . -. • • • .._ -»w.. Related Story, Page 2 fied as "Toll Gate Corners." State Police said they found under rubble by a French group that heard soundi understood that point is near the junction of Rt. 9 fic predictions before. The Route 78 allocation In the highway pro- In South Korea, patrols have from her by using an ultra-sensitive listening device. and Rt. 79 in Freehold Township. This- would sup- The governor said the Monmoulh County area gram Is for work west of the Garden State* P*rk> been strengthened and vigilance plement work in progress in Freehold Township, la growing rapidly and a toll road should be pos- way to Clinton Point in Hunterdon County/< increased along the 150-mile no- One of the French jpecialiits is at center behind her.