Septic systems no longer need to be conventional Upper Freehold sets regulations for alternative systems BY JANE MEGGITT Staff Writer UPPER FREEHOLD - In a 5-2 vote after months of discussion, the township's Board of Health voted to pass an alternative septic ordinance. Board members George King and Nancy Amontis cast the dissenting votes at the board's Aug. 14 meeting. Chairman Dr. S. Perrine Dey said that any lot being considered for an alternative septic system would still have to meet all of the standards, including setback regulations, for the installation of a conventional system. King noted that a recently completed nitrate dilution study and possible changes to the N.J. Department of Environmental Protection's Water Quality Management Planning (WQMP) rules could result in the township having to implement larger-lot zoning. He asked if the creation of an alternative septic ordinance would allow for more dense development in the township. Board of Health Attorney Granville Michael Magee said that applicants cannot put in an alternative system where the requirements for a conventional septic system cannot be met. "It doesn't give [developers] a break," he said with regard to the alternative septic ordinance. King said he could not find any alternative septic ordinances in New Jersey on the Internet, but Margaret Jahn, the Freehold Area Board of Health officer, said that Bedminster passed an alternative septic ordinance a few months ago. Under the provisions of Upper Freehold's ordinance, no property owner or occupant can operate an alternative system unless he or she holds a valid certificate of registration issued by the Board of Health. The ordinance further stipulates that all alternative wastewater disposal systems have to be covered by a minimum two-year service contract that is renewable and fully transferable and cannot be canceled. The contract must state that the system's manufacturer or agent will inspect the system at least once every six months and ensure that it is installed and functioning properly, according to the ordinance. The service contract would also have to include the costs of repairing any routine problems associated with inadequate function of the disposal system, the ordinance states. At the Township Committee's Aug. 16 meeting, resident Joseph Stampe, who lives in the Grande at Old York development, said the conventional septic system in his 7-year-old house has failed. He said that he had all of the system's materials checked and that since they are up to code, he cannot go after the builder for the septic failure. Stampe told the Township Committee that his engineer related that the code was not designed based on Upper Freehold's soils. He asked the township to look at its septic code and change it according to materials that builders should use in local soils, such as washed rather than unwashed stone. Mayor Stephen Fleischacker said that the state has primacy when it comes to septic codes. He said that provisions for the use of mounded septic systems were added to state regulations in the early 1990s. Fleischacker, an engineer, called a mounded septic system "a miserable failure that needs to be eliminated." Without the state provision for mounded systems, he said, the township would not have seen half the development it has since the early 1990s.