County, Merrill Lynch say township overstepped bounds
John Tredrea
Hopewell Township Mayor Marylou Ferrara said Tuesday that lawsuits filed by Mercer County and Merrill Lynch against a recently-adopted amendment to the township’s sewer ordinance are “much ado about nothing.”
“We haven’t substantially changed the law, which has been on the books for years,” the mayor said. “We just clarified it.” She added that she is confident the controversial amendment will be upheld in court.
Under the amendment, which was adopted by the Township Committee last month, the connection of any property to a sewer line requires the approval of a two-thirds majority of the full Township Committee. This means affirmative votes are needed from at least four of the committee’s five members, regardless of whether the fifth member is present when the vote is cast.
Before the sewer ordinance was amended, it stated that a sewer connection required the approval of “the appropriate boards and employees” of the township. There was no specific mention of the Township Committee.
Mayor Ferrara said the decision to require a two-thirds majority vote in favor of sewer connections is based on the prevailing view of township officials that policy decisions on sewers are, in her words the night the amendment was adopted, “of major importance and not to be taken lightly.”
The lawsuits against the township were filed in state Superior Court in Trenton on Monday. It was the 45th day since the ordinance was adopted — the last day, under state law, it could be challenged in court.
“The township doesn’t have the right to do what its sewer ordinance now says it can do,” said Mercer County Director of Communications Thomas Rubino Tuesday. “Under state law, that authority on sewer connections rests with Mercer County. It’s our call, not theirs. We believe the township is overstepping its bounds. We felt obligated to file the lawsuit. Now the court will figure it out.”
Mr. Rubino said he did not know when the hearings on the county and Merrill lawsuits against the township will begin.
Merrill Lynch spokesman Joe Cohen said from his Manhattan office Tuesday that his firm agrees with Mercer County’s position that “the township overstepped its bounds” when it adopted the amendment. “We’re still hopeful that this situation can be resolved amicably,” Mr. Cohen said. “Our goal is to have a long-term, mutually-beneficial relationship with the people and government of Hopewell Township. We filed the lawsuit reluctantly, but felt we had to do so, to protect our rights.”
Merrill Lynch has been working feverishly for months on its controversial Scotch Road Office Park, approved unanimously by the township Planning Board two years ago. Located on 450 acres north of I-95 and east of Scotch Road, the office park OK’d by the planners can be up to 3.5 million square feet in size, enough for about 11,000 workers.
Several large buildings at the office park are near completion and expected to be ready for occupancy this year, acting township administrator Pete Raynor said at the Township Committee’s March 16 meeting. Merrill has a contract with the Ewing-Lawrence Sewerage Authority (ELSA) for enough treatment capacity for the full office park, which has been approved by the county and state as well as the township.
Merrill also owns 440 acres on the west side of Scotch Road. The land, purchased about year ago, is opposite the office park tract. Unlike that tract, however, it is not entitled to sewer service. Approvals from the township, county planning board, county executive and state are needed to put that entitlement in place.
About two and a half years ago, county executive Robert Prunetti said he would not OK an extension of the sewer service area to the west side of Scotch Road. He said roads and other infrastructure in the area are not adequate to handle the development availability of sewers on the west side could mean.
Addressing both sides of Scotch Road, Mr. Cohen said on behalf of Merrill: “At this time, we have no firm plans to do anything with the property on the west side. On the east side, our concern is that the township ordinance that prompted our lawsuit could jeopardize existing development — the Scotch Road Office Park.”
Mayor Ferrara said any fears Merrill may have about the amendment jeopardizing the firm’s ability to hook the office park into the ELSA are groundless. She said the amendment “doesn’t’ affect developments that have already been approved, such as the office park. Previous approvals stand, and we had our township attorney, John Bennett, tell that to Merrill Lynch, in writing,” after the amendment was adopted.
Asked if that meant that a Township Committee vote would not be required when Merrill wanted to connect its office park into the ELSA system, the mayor readily replied: “No, that vote would not be required, because the project’s already been approved. The amendment only pertains to projects that haven’t been approved yet.”