U.F. mayor blames DEP for school project holdup
BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer

UPPER FREEHOLD - The mayor has alleged that the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is holding wastewater management plans hostage in order to force communities to follow Smart Growth principles.

Mayor Stephen Fleischacker said the DEP's Priorities and Action Plan for 2007 outlines how the state plans to implement Smart Growth.

At the Feb. 15 Township Committee meeting, Fleischacker said there is "no doubt" there will be litigation as a result of the plan as time goes on.

In a December 2004 school referendum, voters chose to build a new middle school on Ellisdale Road. Due to soil remediation and wastewater management issues, however, no construction has begun on the site. The Upper Freehold Regional Board of Education voted last week to offer a second referendum in April for an additional $13.2 million to move the construction of the school to Breza Road, which is in a sewerage area.

The goal stated in the Sustainable Growth section of the DEP plan is to "maximize use of department resources to encourage sustainable growth and livable communities by incorporating consistent criteria for the protection of natural resources and development of Smart Growth and green design principles into DEP rule making, priority setting and planning efforts, other state smart and economic growth priorities, and in regional and local planning efforts."

Fleischacker said the DEP is trying to put teeth into the state plan.

"I hope this will explain why we are delayed in the school project," he said. "The DEP wants a comprehensive plan. It's not a political agenda, it's reality."

Fleischacker, an engineer, said, "Those of us in the industry have seen this coming."

Fleischacker said the DEP is "butting heads" with county officials regarding the county's Wastewater Management Plan (WMP). With regard to the placement of the new middle school, Fleischacker said it is not a case of the township's governing body trying to manipulate where the school is going to go as some residents have alleged.

"Some of us tried to warn those on the school board that the state wasn't kidding around," he said. "The warnings are coming true."

Fleischacker said the DEP has not rejected the school's WMP, but rather has delayed it for years.

Committeeman Stephen Alexander said that the state is telling growing communities like Upper Freehold what to do and is giving a cap on the budget. In 2005, according to Alexander, the state said that the Ellisdale Road site was acceptable for a school. However, he said there may now be "different players" in the DEP and Smart Growth, which could be the reason for the delay.

"Whatever [the reason], it's becoming more difficult to govern as a municipality," he said.

The state's plan reads, "In a home rule state, DEP recognizes the important contribution its regulatory standard makes to protecting New Jersey's environment. DEP also recognizes that the impact of those contributions can be magnified when they are consistently applied through relevant DEP programs, when they are incorporated into other state smart and economic growth initiatives, and when DEP works in partnership with regional and local planning entities to fully incorporate them into local and regional planning."

The plan continues, "As a result, DEP has begun and will continue to coordinate those elements of key rules that affect local and regional planning. In particular, the DEP will incorporate a common set of planning criteria in water quality management planning regulations and regulations to protect threatened and endangered species habitat and regulations."

The DEP also states that it will propose and adopt amendments to the Standards for Individual Subsurface Sewage Disposal System Rules to encourage the use of innovative and alternate systems that would better protect groundwater quality.

For more information about the state's plan, visit the township's Web site at www.uftnj.com and click on the DEP's "Priorities and Action Plan."