BY KATHY BARATTA
Staff Writer
HOWELL — A major hurdle in the installation of sewers along Route 9 has been cleared.
Township Manager Bruce Davis said a pumping station will be built at the site which once housed the Regency Motel. The property is on the northbound side of Route 9 at the Howell-Lake-wood border.
Davis said now that a location for the pumping station has been selected, the actual work of installing the sewer lines is expected to be-gin next spring along Route 9 southbound from Lanes Mill Road to the Howell-Lakewood border.
He said Howell has sent the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) all of the necessary plans and specifications and is in the process of securing all of the easements that are needed along the Route 9 southbound portion of the installation project.
Davis said the installation of the sewer line along Route 9 northbound from the Howell-Lakewood border is expected to start in 2006.
He said some underground pipes and fiber optic lines will have to be moved to accommodate the Route 9 northbound project.
The Township Council approved a $4.2 million bonding ordinance more than a year ago to pay for the sewer line installations along the state highway. Individual property owners will then pay an assessment to tie into the sewer line.
Mayor Timothy J. Konopka, long a proponent of the installation of sewer lines along Route 9, has touted the project as a boon for the environment since Route 9 runs alongside the Metedeconk River, which is a source of drinking water for neighboring Brick Township. The project will curtail the need for septic systems in the area.
Konopka has also called the sewer line a benefit for commercial property owners whose septic systems could not properly accommodate the rate of use and the costs related to maintain the septic systems.
According to Davis, gravity lines will be installed rather than forced mains in an effort to restrict residential developers by making it more cost prohibitive for them to tie into the new sewer lines.