CRANBURY: Township to spend $50,000 to save money on washing trucks

By David Kilby, Staff Writer
   CRANBURY — The township awarded a bid for the installation of a sewer lateral for a washing station at the Public Works building on Dey Road.
   The installation would cost $47,105, but would save the township money in the long term since the township no longer will have to sporadically pay large sums to wash Public Works vehicles when needed.
   The township received three bids in October last year for the project and chose the bid submitted by Mario’s Concrete and Paving Company in Parlin.
   Largely due to the storm right after Christmas, the township wound up spending about $10,000 in December to clean Public Works trucks to meet New Jersey storm water regulations.
   At the Township Committee meeting Monday, William Tanner, township engineer, discussed with the committee what needs to be done to wash the Public Works vehicles in accordance with those storm water regulations.
   The best plan is to install a sewer lateral, or a tank and pipe system, that can environmentally discharge water mingled with oil, salt, sand and whatever else accumulates on Public Works trucks, he said.
   In 2005, the state adopted a policy requiring a permit to discharge storm water. The state also required all municipalities to have some way of environmentally discharging wash water. The best way to meet this requirement is to discharge the water to a treatment system, Mr. Tanner explained.
   ”We have to put in a sewer lateral with an oil water separator,” he said. “Eventually, it builds up and spills out. The oil rises to the top and stays in the first compartment. You skim the oil off and drop the solids.”
   The township has no way to sanitarily dispose of the salt, oil and mud that accumulates on the undercarriage of its Public Works trucks unless it hires a company to put down a tarp, wash the trucks, suck up the storm water on the tarp and then transport the storm water to a waste facility that will accept it, Mr. Tanner explained.
   Installing its own sewer lateral that can hold the storm water would cost the township much less money in the long term, Mr. Tanner explained to the committee.
   An ordinance setting aside the money for a permanent sewer lateral for a vehicle washing station already has been approved by the township, said Denise Marabello, township business administrator and chief finance officer.
   At its meeting Monday, the committee unanimously voted to award the $47,105 bid for a steel tank with a plastic exterior.
   ”This isn’t something you’re going to have to replace in 10 or 15 years, Mr. Tanner said. “It should last about 50 years.”
   ”The committee shows knowledge of how this stuff works,” Mr. Tanner said after the meeting. “They understood what they were asking. They went for the long term, which was cheaper in this case.”
   The committee also had the option of going with a concrete tank. Concrete lasts “forever,” but “the steel tank is easier to clean,” Mr. Tanner said.