Franklin Park officials believe they've found a way to fix a 24-foot tall earthen dam for about $140,000 less than what the borough already has budgeted for the work.

Ambrose Rocca, the borough's manager, said council agreed last week to send the money-saving plan for repairs to the state Department of Environmental Protection for approval.

Installing a French drain type system down the sides of the dam will cost about $5,000 and borough workers will provide another $5,000 or so in labor and equipment, he said.

The first repair estimate, which included shoring up a portion of the dam with a 15-foot-wide rock wall, was $150,000.

An annual inspection of the dam, located above the Northmont Farms housing development, showed the presence of two small underground springs, also known as "wet spots."

Fixing the dam is a priority because 20 homes in the flood plane downstream would be affected if it were to fail, Mr. Rocca said.

The structure has been classified as "high-hazard" since the development was built in the 1980s. The borough has always performed maintenance and annual inspections on the dam, he added.

It is a detention dam, rather than a retention dam, meaning water builds up at the top of the dam during heavy rainfalls and then is slowly released into Fish Run Creek via a built-in drainage pipe.

Any money that is saved on the dam repair project will go back into Franklin Park's coffers, Mr. Rocca said.

By the end of the year, it appears the borough's earned income revenue will fall about $200,000 short, he said, blaming the shortage on the state of the economy.

"This savings will help plug that gap," he said.