Waste Transfer Station Settlement To Be Before Howell Council

HOWELL, NJ —The Township Council will meet as planned Tuesday night, despite the earlier snowfall, and will hear a presentation about a construction-waste transfer station that could be built in the southeastern part of the township.

And a local advocacy group is urging residents to attend the meeting to hear details and express their opinions.

A presentation about a Resource Engineering settlement with the township is on the agenda and the issue concerns the Howell NJ First organization, which is opposed to the transfer station on Route 547 at Randolph Road, members say.

The public part of the meeting is at 7 p.m. in Town Hall. You can see the full agenda here.

You can read a brief history of the project - more than seven years of it - on the Howell NJ First social media site here.

In 2020, members of the council, including Mayor Theresa Berger, expressed concern about traffic from trucks hauling construction waste to the site for processing and eventual removal - all as a way to deal with a "construction boom" in Lakewood. And Monmouth County said in a 2009 Waste Management plan (endorsed in 2016) that such a facility was not necessary, Howell NJ First says.

The then owners of the company sued the county, and Howell intervened in September 2020 to protect its residents' interests, according to the Howell NJ First chronology.

In June 2022, Resource Engineering was sold to Resource Transfer Group, Howell NJ First said.

The advocacy organization is very concerned about potential truck traffic, said member Marc Parisi. He said there could be "300 to 500 dump trucks a day" coming to the southeastern corner of the township - and others were concerned that the trucks may not always be covered and could leave dangerous debris in the area.

Resolution 24-67 will be before the council later in the meeting after the presentation "accepting and authorizing execution of a settlement agreement with Resource Engineering." It is part of the consent agenda.

But Parisi said any vote on accepting the settlement should be taken at another time, after the public can fully comment on the settlement and the effect truck traffic could have on the area.

And he said he is urging residents to attend Tuesday night's meeting.

According to the resolution, the township is involved in litigation in Superior Court with Resource Engineering regarding potential construction and maintenance of a fully enclosed transfer station to be located in the township.

"After numerous settlement discussions, conferences with the court and all counsel, a proposed settlement agreement has been drafted which the township professional and administrative staff find to be acceptable as to form and content," the resolution says.

The township believes that the adoption of the agreement is "appropriate and in the best interest of the township and its citizens."

A vote to approve the settlement is expected. A copy of the agreement is on file at the
Office of the Township Clerk and can be viewed during normal business hours, the resolution says.

The resolution also "authorizes and directs the Mayor, Township Clerk, and Township Administrator to execute any and all necessary documents in order to implement the intent of this resolution."