HOWELL – The three Republican members of the Howell Township Council have restated their opposition to a company’s proposal to establish a solid waste transfer station at 34 Randolph Road and to have that facility included in Monmouth County’s Solid Waste Management Plan.
The proposal from Resource Engineering has been and remains under review at the county level.
The Howell Township Council has five members: Democrats Theresa Berger and John Bonevich, and Republicans Evelyn O’Donnell, Pamela Richmond and Tom Russo.
Several weeks ago, after attending a county meeting, Berger, who is Howell’s mayor, encouraged residents to pursue information about the Resource Engineering proposal from the county.
On Feb. 1, O’Donnell, who is Howell’s deputy mayor, Richmond and Russo issued their own statement on the matter.
As previously described by Resource Engineering, the transfer station on Randolph Road near the intersection of Route 547 would receive thousands of tons of cleanup debris and construction debris by truck each day. The debris would be sorted and shipped from the transfer station for final disposal at other facilities.
In their statement, O’Donnell, Richmond and Russo said the proposed transfer station “in the southern portion of our community is not an acceptable project for the township. We have opposed this project since details first began to emerge as far back as 2018 when we sent a letter to residents in that area making them aware of the proposal to raise community awareness.
“Since that time we have waited patiently for further details about the proposal which have begun to emerge and are even more disturbing. Without even seeing the traffic report it is obvious the heavy trucks coming in and out will have a debilitating impact on our roads and infrastructure and will forever change the fabric of the Randolph Road area.
“We don’t need this transfer station in Howell and we will do everything we can to stop the project. We call on Mayor Berger and Councilman Bonevich to join us on a bipartisan basis in working together to defeat this unnecessary and quite possibly unsafe project,” the Republicans said.
In January 2019, Berger, O’Donnell, Russo, Richmond and Bonevich passed a resolution that stated their objections to the proposed facility.
That resolution states Resource Engineering “is seeking inclusion into the Monmouth County Solid Waste Management Plan as a proposed solid waste transfer station … and Resource Engineering has indicated it will receive (various types) of waste at the proposed solid waste transfer station. Transfer stations are specifically prohibited in all zones in Howell …
“The New Jersey State Solid Waste Management Act requires that the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders consider the absence of sufficient existing or available sites for solid waste facilities and develop and implement a solid waste management plan which meets the needs of every municipality within the county,” the council members said in the resolution.
There are transfer station facilities in Monmouth County which are included in a February 2009 amendment to the county plan and which accept specific types of waste, according to the resolution.
In addition to transfer facilities in Monmouth County, the county plan indicates there remains adequate and excess capacity to transfer bulky wastes generated in the county to out-of-county disposal sites, according to the resolution.
At the Feb. 4 meeting of the Township Council, Berger said the Republicans’ letter went out unbeknownst to herself and Bonevich. She restated for the record that the entire council opposes the proposed waste transfer station.
