Holmdel revises wastewater plan

Amid concerns that doing so would open the door to development, the Holmdel Township Committee last week extended sewer service to the northern sector of the township.

ERIN STATTEL Residents filled the meeting room to listen to the Township Committee discuss revisions to the wastewater management plan. Residents packed the meeting room at the Feb. 5 Township Committeemeetingwhere proposed revisions to the township's wastewater management plan were on the agenda.

Along with extending service to some areas, the Township Committee amended the plan, removing certain areas for sewer service, including the Alcatel-Lucent property on Crawfords Corner Road, and added other areas such as Holmdel Park.

"We are going to take out [the Alcatel-Lucent property] and include everything north of Crawfords Corner Road in the sewer service area," Mayor Serena Di- Maso said. "We are going to allow everything north of the ridgeline because it is already fully developed and that was what was recommended to us."

The township revisited its wastewater management plan at the recommendation of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Monmouth County Planning Board.

In a December letter, Bonnie Goldschlag, assistant planning director for the Monmouth County Planning Board, informed Township Administrator and Chief Financial Officer Joseph Annecharico that several changes in the county's wastewater management plan are located within Holmdel's borders.

"NJDEP has reviewed the county's draft countywide WMP [wastewater management plan] and is recommending removing certain areas within your municipality from sewer service," the letter states.

According to a report by Township Engineer Edward Broberg, of T&M Associates, the county Planning Board advised the township that the DEP was proposing amendments to the sewer service area and invited the township to a meeting with representatives of the state agency, the county and the Bayshore Regional Sewerage Authority.

"The Monmouth County Planning Board recommended certain areas for sewer service and non-sewer service," Broberg explained. "There was a difference of opinion at the meeting with the Planning Board and the DEP, so the township was asked to prepare recommendations in writing.

"Since Committeeman [Larry] Fink and I did not agree with respect to several of the areas, the Monmouth County Planning Board requested that the entire Holmdel Township Committee review each of these areas and provide their official position on each area," Broberg's report states.

After the Township Committee finalizes their position on the wastewater management plan, the plan will be sent to the county Planning Board, which will forward it to the DEP.

The county park system requested that Holmdel Park be slated for sewer service.

According to a letter from Faith Hahn, supervising planner for the Monmouth County Park System, "The principal developed areas of the park [are to] be included in a sewer service area to maintain the possibility of a future sewer connection."

Broberg presented his recommendations to the committee.

"Many areas have been recommended to be taken out of sewer service, including Doc Lawrence's farm on Route 520 and open spaces on Route 34," Broberg said. "Large areas are being taken out and other areas will continue to be areas unsewered in the future. DEP recommended some of those spaces to be sewered in the future, but my response was to leave them unsewered."

Noticeably absent from the Feb. 5 meeting was Committeewoman Janet Berk.

In an interview after the meeting, Berk said that had she been able to participate, she would have voiced several concerns.

"I would have tried to convince the others to keep intact what was in the 2002 wastewater management plan with the 2004 amendments, which would not have included the Manee Place neighborhood or the western portion or the Country Woods and Winchester Lane areas in the eastern portion," Berk said in a Feb. 9 interview.

"What greatly concerns me is that there are over 400 acres around the arts center that are now included in future sewer service areas. Although it is state-owned, that would be open to massive development should the state decide to [do something] around the arts center."

Berk said that she is also concerned about environmental and cost impacts.

"I am concerned for environmental reasons and for cost reasons as well," she said. "If more infrastructure is needed, it could cost taxpayers."

While the revisions are not finalized, she said, she is still worried.

"These are not set in stone yet; it has to go to the county and it is subject to commentary, and there would be a hearing," Berk explained. "However, it certainly is going in the direction of what was approved, and that concerns me."

Fellow Democrat Fink, who is a DEP Green Acres employee, stepped down from the dais and left the room while the plan was being discussed.

Fink's employment with DEP was a topic of discussion at the Jan. 15 Township Committee meeting, and the committeeman said he would step down on DEP-related matters until a clear ruling on the matter of a potential conflict of interest could be made.

"The township attorney has counseled me that I may have a conflict of interest in this matter since sewers and wastewater falls under DEP jurisdiction," Fink stated at the Feb. 5 meeting. "I am seeking advisory with the state Ethics Board and until a definite opinion is delivered, […] I will recuse myself for the time being."

After Fink left the room, the committee commenced discussion of the sewer service areas of the wastewater management plan.

Committeeman Rocco Pascucci said that leaving the 472-acre Alcatel-Lucent property in the sewer service area of the plan made him nervous.

"Currently, the Lucent property is sewered with a sewer line going to the building," he said. "Does this mean we open that property to other things?"

Broberg said that the wastewater plan could be amended.

"The plan can be amended," he said. "I added that property, and the reason was because we have no idea what will be built there, so this allows us to be flexible."

Pascucci continued to voice concerns.

"I am still worried and it scares me," he said. "I don't think it should be left in there."

"If we take this out and leave the building sewered, the development proposals that came in would have never been proposed," Broberg said.

Pascucci reasoned that if the property were fully left in the sewer service area, a builder could file suit against the town to win high-density zoning.

"Let's say a builder comes in and sues my pants off and wants to put high-density zoning there, that scares me," Pascucci said. "If we leave it like this, we're hanging in the wind. I think we need to be cautious."

Broberg said that the committee could take the property out, but it would leave the owner of the property with sewer lines only to the building.

DiMaso reiterated what was happening at the meeting was to satisfy the DEP.

"This plan is not giving you sewers," she told the residents in attendance. "It is allowing you the option of having sewers.

"If your home is in a sewer service area and the issue of putting sewers in comes up, we take a vote of the neighborhood," Di- Maso explained. "If 50 percent plus one are interested, we ask our engineer to take a look at the area. We then take another vote, and if 50 percent plus one of the households are still interested, we move forward. Our professionals explain everything at neighborhood meetings. It is a very long and arduous process."

The three remaining members of the Township Committee, all Republicans, Di- Maso, Pascucci and Committeeman Pat Impreveduto, decided to take the Alcatel-Lucent property out and include areas north of Crawfords Corner Road in the sewer service area.

After the meeting, Broberg explained the committee's actions on the Alcatel-Lucent property.

"The amendment was to leave in sewering for areas with buildings, and the rest comes out," he said.

Prior to the governing body's action on the wastewater management plan, residents weighed in on the pros and cons of implementing sewer service areas on township plans.

Resident Ruth Lewart read a statement on behalf of the Citizens for Informed Land Use regarding the proposed addition of sewer service to several areas in town.

"T&M Associates and Bayshore Regional Sewerage Authority both have an economic stake in expanding sewer service areas in Holmdel," Lewart read. "T&M Associates stands to benefit with several million dollars in engineering, contract administration and inspection fees for the very sewer expansions it has been advocating. BRSA has significantly overbuilt its capacity and is thirsty, from an economic standpoint, for more sewer effluent."

Broberg corrected Lewart's comments.

"I have to respond to some of these comments," Broberg said after Lewart read CILU's statement. "The commentsmade about me and the company are derogatory and misleading and grossly inaccurate. I am a person of integrity and the numbers in that statement are misleading and I intend to defend my and my firm's integrity."

Resident Jim McEowen said that his neighborhood on Parkway Place does not currently receive sewer service, but he would like it.

"We moved in 40 years ago and we were told we would get them and we never did," he said. "We have a small front yard where the septic tank is, and it doesn't work very well. Basically, we live in a high-class community with a Third World sanitary system."

Residents persisted that allowing sewer service areas in town would allow development in.

"All we need on a map is to have a proposal for sewers, and a developer will come in during good times like Howard Schoor proposed with 500 houses on the Chase tract," said Robert Kaufman. "You guys are on record for not wanting 350 homes on the Lucent property."

Other residents felt there was a simpler solution to the sewers versus non-sewer debate.

"My family has lived here since the early 1940s and we watched everyone move in, and I just can't understand where these people are coming from," said Diane Pappa. "So, I have a suggestion. People don't want sewers, they don't want septic tanks, they don't seem to want to use their bathrooms; they can have outhouses. They like open space, they can knock their houses down and live in tents. This is all a bunch of boloney."