HOWELL- The Township Council has been informed that Monmouth County will conduct a traffic study in connection with a proposed solid waste transfer station in Howell.
The matter was discussed by council members during a meeting on Sept. 25.
At its meeting on Sept. 27, the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders was expected to authorize Boswell Engineering to perform traffic engineering services at a cost not to exceed $32,606.
Resource Engineering has proposed the establishment of a solid waste transfer station at 34 Randolph Road, near the intersection of Monmouth County Route 547.
Information previously provided about the solid waste transfer station indicated it would accept 1,500 tons per day of bulky cleanup debris and bulky construction debris for sorting, removal of recyclable materials and subsequent transfer to an out-of-state facility for final disposal. The firm indicated that as many as 200 trucks per day, Monday through Saturday, might enter and leave the facility.
Howell Director of Community Development Jim Herrman said he was informed on Sept. 25 the county was planning to conduct a traffic study at Randolph Road and Route 547. He said Boswell Engineering will confirm or refute information that has been presented by a traffic professional who represents Resource Engineering.
Councilman Bob Walsh said he has heard “rumbles” of there being another project in the same area as the proposed solid waste transfer facility.
“An 80,000- to 100,000-square-foot building at Randolph Road. Is that also being included in this traffic study?” Walsh asked.
Herrman asked Walsh if he was referring to the 41 Randolph LLC application which was approved by the Planning Board, which is a 100,000-square-foot mixed use warehouse facility, but said there could be another project in the same area.
“I have met with potential developers for the site … across from Arnold Steel Co. (at 79 Randolph Road). … There have been numerous development proposals for that property over the years. The most recent one, which we met with the developer three weeks ago, was 1.2 million square feet of warehouse and office space on Randolph Road, just east of the proposed sold waste transfer station site,” Herrman said.
Mayor Theresa Berger asked if Amazon was coming to Howell.
“Not that I know of, but that is a lot of space and we will have to take that into account,” Herrman said.
“Where can we go with this?” Walsh asked. “I would like to see the governing body pass a resolution and I would like us to see these traffic studies before they get sent out to the (New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection). So we have disagreements, I think this governing body should hire and have their own traffic studies done independent from everybody.”
Deputy Mayor Robert Nicastro suggested that Herrman relay information regarding the proposed projects in the Randolph Road area to the county so that information can be incorporated into Boswell Engineering’s traffic study.
Herrman said the freeholders waited to authorize the traffic study until school was back in session because they did not want to conduct the study over the summer when there were no school buses and school traffic on local roads.
Walsh asked if “with that much space (the 1.2-million-square-foot project), is there going to be a lot more traffic?” Herrman said “yes.”
Walsh has said he wants to document the council’s opposition to the solid waste transfer station and wants a paper trail of all communication that is produced regarding the proposal.
