HOWELL – Howell Township recently notified residents that the Feb. 22 Board of Chosen Freeholders meeting has been canceled.
This date was meant to be the meeting at which the Freeholders would review information from the Solid Waste Advisory Council (SWAC) and input from Howell residents pertinent to the proposed waste transfer site on Randolph Road.
According to the post on the township website, there is no reschedule date for the freeholder meeting.
The notice read: “Be advised that the February 22, 2018 Freeholder meeting to discuss the solid waste transfer station that was scheduled to be discussed in Freehold has been canceled. No new meeting date has been set at the present time. Please refer to the Monmouth County website for additional information.”
On January 25, the SWAC held a meeting at the Howell Township Municipal Building to which many residents showed up. The purpose of the meeting, according to SWAC members, was to clarify the purpose of the site.
Representatives from InSite Engineering and McDonough and Rea Associates, affiliates of the proposed project, presented to the council to explain the function of the site and the reasons for certain traffic changes surrounding the area on Randolph Road that accompany the project.
Residents expressed that they were largely opposed to the waste transfer site, citing traffic issues and water contamination as some of the main concerns, as well as it becoming an eyesore for the community.
A letter from the Chairman of SWAC, Scott Johnson, to Howell Mayor Theresa Berger dated Feb. 5 stated: “We have requested that the Board of Chosen Freeholders allow SWAC the opportunity to further review the application and the supporting documents based on the comments received at the open public meeting, as well as new information that was brought to the SWAC’s attention that evening.”
In the letter, Johnson explains that the original freeholders meeting in July of 2017 was canceled to “obtain a final position of the town,” and suggested that SWAC hold an open public meeting to do so.
“There were additional concerns raised during the SWAC meeting that was held (on Jan. 25),” Johnson stated in the letter. “It is now the intention of SWAC to hire an independent engineering consultant to review to major traffic concerns raised at the public hearing, due to their significance to the town as well as the balance of the county.”
As stated in the township’s posting, there is not date set yet for the rescheduled meeting of the freeholders.
