HILLSBOROUGH: Sewer project financing approved

By Gene Robbins, Managing Editor
   Township leaders put a bow on a 6-year-old sewer project in the Millstone River area when they approved a financing plan that will charge 191 property owners about $24,200, plus interest.
   The township Municipal Utilities Authority built the line into the area after petitioning by residents as far back as the 1970s for a remedy to failing septic systems on small lots. Construction began in April 2010 and ended in November, and the first connections were made to the system in December.
   After hearing from residents, the Township Committee accepted Tax Assessor Debra Blaney’s analysis and plan to recoup costs through a special assessment.
   About 25 residents of the area attended. The cost wasn’t the issue.
   ”I’d rather pay 24 grand (for a permanent solution) than $10,000 to $50,000 for potentially a three- to five-year solution,” said Tom O’Donnell, a resident who has monitored the project closely.
   The Claremont area is in the eastern part of the township, north of the Borough of Millstone. The total of 191 properties was divided into the $4.6 million total cost of the project. The tax assessor’s July report said 159 of the owners had signed papers agreeing to an assessment.
   The sewer construction cost just more than $3.6 million with “soft” costs for fees and legal and engineering work adding $1 million.
   Three residents, including Mr. O’Donnell, asked if the Claremont neighbors would see any reduction in charges if more properties tied into the sewer line in the future.
   Mr. O’Donnell said he had heard talk residents in the Plumstead Way and Wilson Cove/Cedar Hill Terrace areas, who had declined to join the project now, would seek to hook into the line after it was finished, thus avoiding the special assessment.
   ”Our intent is not to stick it to the 191 (owners) and let others have a free ride, if that’s what you mean,” said Committeeman Frank DelCore.
   Mr. O’Donnell also asked if homeowners could get a delay in paying one of the two initial approximately $780 payments due in 2012. He said owners have paid about $5,000 for a connection fee as well as $1,500 to $3,500 or more to dig and install the line from the house to the street.
   Township Attorney Albert Cruz said the bonding ordinance requires two annual payments. Township Committee members said they believed the tax collector could accommodate a longer grace period to stretch some of the burden into 2103.
   The special assessment is justified, in part, because it would increase the value of homes, says Ms. Blaney’s report. According to her study, the sewer line increases the value of a property from $23,800 to $56,000, with the average at $40,200.
   Homeowners also brought fears property tax assessments would rise because the homes now had sewers. Ms. Blaney said assessments would remain the same for 2013, and after that, would rise or fall based on market forces.
   If homeowners paid principal plus interest (estimated at 1.5 percent) twice a year for 20 years, the total amount a property owner would pay is $27,739.30, the report says.
   The report suggests a $605 payment on principal twice a year, plus interest that would be almost $177 for the first payment to $4.54 in the last.
   Dr. Glen Belnay, the township health officer, told the audience the project “was absolutely essential to protect the public health.”
   Failing septic systems were a problem in the Claremont for more than 20 years, according to the report.