Holmdel Environmental Commission Position Paper:
Proposed 2002 Wastewater Management Plan
September 9, 2002

Wastewater management is basically the planning of sewage discharge in a community and is something that not many people understand or even consider very often.  Here in Holmdel, due to the Township’s unique environmental resources combined with a rapidly growing population, the topic is a crucial one.  That’s because the decisions about whether and where to sewer certain areas have a critical impact on all residents and affect the welfare of our drinking water, the quantity of water in our streams, the rate and type of development, the tax rate, and the growth of our infrastructure. 

The five major issues addressed in the 2002 Wastewater Management Plan presented tonight are fully supported by the Environmental Commission.  We reaffirm the importance of the existing decision to maintain the southern slope as a discharge to ground water area without sewer service.  Without sewer service in the southern slope area, the Township is able to slow the rate of development and the burden that it brings to Holmdel’s roadways, municipal services, and school population.

And for many, the bottom line of the matter is cost.  The cost effectiveness of sewer lines is a controversial issue, but the fact is that there are currently no dedicated state or federal capital improvement budgets to pay for planned expansion of sewers.  That means that potentially significant costs for installation and service would have to be borne by the homeowner.  Retrofitting existing neighborhoods in steeply sloped residential areas would likely require easements in private property.  And with increased development come the costs of the aforementioned road construction and maintenance, municipal services for a larger population, and school construction and expansion projects.

Background:  The Wastewater Management Plan recommendations serve to control sewer infrastructure extensions in Town and that is probably the single most important thing we can do to manage growth in Holmdel.  It is also about preserving our water resources in Town—both the streams and all the living creatures that live in them as well as the drinking water supply. 

 The 2002 Wastewater Management Plan (WMP) as presented will do the following:

 1.  Reconfirm that southern Holmdel will not have sewer service and remain as a “discharge to ground water area” (i.e., septic systems and a few on-site treatment plants for commercial buildings and the Village School).

 2.  Limit sewer service to the Arts Center existing buildings only, as originally intended in the WMP of 1990, and remove from the “sewer service area” approximately 300 acres of surrounding park lands that were added in a 1991 BRSA amendment.

 3.  Limit sewer service to the existing buildings on the Lucent property in the southern slope and not allow its extension to the entire 446-acre site.

 4.  Will use the NJ State supported Nitrate Dilution Model as a guideline for establishing lot sizes on NEW subdivisions of 6 or more homes.  This would help defend the Town against legal challenges to our existing lower density zones.  Implementing the Nitrate Dilution Model to determine lot sizes for newly created subdivisions would enhance through natural means the quality of ground water recharge.  If the Township Committee, at a future date, incorporates this model into any specific zone, it could potentially modify the lot size for NEW development only and as such would not make existing homes nonconforming. 

 5.  Will add two areas north of the slope now designated for “future sewer service” to the “discharge to ground water area”.  These areas now provide critical ground water recharge to the streams and the Swimming River Reservoir which would be lost if they were eventually serviced by sewers.  These areas consist of homes on 1 and 2 ½ acres and are in the State Planning Area 3 (Suburban Fringe) and Planning Area 5 (Environmentally Sensitive)—areas not recommended for sewer service by the State Plan.  These areas are currently served by septic systems and situated on aquifer outcroppings (important areas for recharge of groundwater). 

The new Wastewater Management Plan, upon approval by the Township Committee, will be incorporated into the County Plan.

(This document was approved at the September 4, 2002 HEC meeting along with a motion which authorized Mrs. Kaufman to read same at Township Committee meeting and to distribute.)