Holmdel Road Work Part Of NJ Natural Gas Regulator Project

HOLMDEL, NJ — Part of Holmdel Road is closed this week as NJ Natural Gas continues work on a gas regulator project the township is still contesting in court.

The county road is closed from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. from Route 520 to Roberts Road through Friday, the township said in a social media post earlier this week.

The gas company on Wednesday confirmed the road work is for the gas regulator project.

The work on Holmdel Road is related to ongoing work with the project, a company spokesman said, providing the following comment:

“Both the BPU and administrative law judge in this matter have agreed with NJNG that this is an important project that is in the public interest to benefit Holmdel residents and other customers in the area with safe, reliable lifeline natural gas service. We are moving forward with construction of the regulator station,” according to the statement from Director of Communications Kevin Roberts.

Roberts said he could could not "be more specific as to the nature of the work" currently taking place.

One resident near the project, who asked not to be named, said residents should have been advised of the purpose of the road work.

"On the Holmdel Facebook it says the road is closed for road maintenance today. But this is NOT maintenance. As neighbors, we deserve to know what is going on," the Patch reader said. The resident said "very large pipes" were at the site.

Township Attorney Michael L. Collins reported to the Township Committee last Tuesday that a stay requested by the township to stop any work by the utility was denied.

But he said the township's appeal of the BPU decision to permit the regulator project is still ongoing, as confirmed Tuesday by Township Administrator Jay Delaney.

The utility is doing work there "at its own risk," Collins noted last week.

At a previous meeting, the committee approved increasing the not-to-exceed amount for legal costs in the matter by $6,400 for special counsel.

Peter Dickson, the township's attorney in the case, earlier this year filed notice to appeal the BPU decision to permit the regulator in the Appellate Division of Superior Court. The committee had already approved an amount not to exceed $20,000 to pursue the legal action by the firm of Potter-Dickson, Princeton.

"We are all very disappointed in the decision (of the BPU), but the town will continue to take this seriously," Mayor DJ Luccarelli has said previously.

The township has been involved in continuing litigation with the gas company about its plan to build a regulator station at 960 Holmdel Road in the southern part of the Township. The proposal got its latest go ahead recently from the state Board of Public Utilities.

Fox Hollow Vineyards, located at 939 Holmdel Road, is owned by the Casola family and the proposed regulator site is across from the vineyard and its other onsite facilities. The vineyard owners have appeared before the Township Committee, expressing their concerns about the project.

An administrative law judge issued an initial ruling last May to allow the NJNG petition to continue. The judge’s decision had been sent to the Board of Public Utilities for review, and it ruled against the township.

A regulator station reduces pressure on the underground natural gas pipelines that already exist in the area, running underneath the ground in Holmdel Township and throughout Monmouth County, the utility says in explaining the purpose of the project.

In 2018, when the project was first proposed, spokesman Kevin Roberts then told Patch "the regulator station itself is needed to support the reliability of NJNG's distribution system. It will replace a temporary station that is currently in operation, but that is not designed or suitable to support the system permanently."

The regulator station will consist primarily of underground piping, a 15-foot tall ventilated heating unit, a control box and two regulator runs that will be located above ground.

But environmental advocates say the project's proximity to Holmdel's preserved farmland, homes, the Village Elementary School and the Swimming River Watershed makes it the wrong place for a regulator station.