FREEHOLD — Borough officials have passed a resolution to endorse the pursuit of a New Jersey SHARE grant with Marlboro and Freehold Township for the purposes of studying the possibility of creating a municipal truck wash facility.
SHARE stands for Sharing Available Resources Efficiently.
The purpose of the $10,000 grant, according to the Freehold Borough resolution, is to promote shared services between the towns through the sharing of mandated truck washing facilities that would be beneficial to the local municipalities.
The three towns have joined in applying for money to fund a feasibility study, with Marlboro as the lead agency.
Freehold Borough Administrator Joseph Bellina explained that new state Department of Environmental Protection regulations require that when municipal trucks are washed, the water must be separated from the grime and residue in order to keep “deleterious” materials from entering the storm drainage system.
Bellina told the council members to keep in mind that Monmouth County will be getting three truck washes. He said it may be more cost-effective to pay per wash for each truck at county truck wash than to go in with two other towns and create a truck wash.
Bellina said the county truck washes will probably be up and running by the spring or summer.
According to an executive summary from the Western Monmouth Shared Storm Water Compliance Study prepared by the Patriot Group, a key goal of the study was to find mutual ways of meeting two seemingly unrelated state goals: storm water management compliance and the sharing of municipal services with the goal of lessening the strain on property taxes.
New Jersey’s new standards for vehicle washing by municipalities include “the installation of a vehicle wash-water reclamation center; the capturing and hauling of the used water for proper disposal; connection to sanitary sewers; and the halting of washing activity or the obtaining of a separate New Jersey Elimination System permit.”
The compliance study recommends the immediate establishment of two wheel/vehicle wash systems in the study area to maximize the efficiency of storm water compliance delivery to the three towns (Marlboro, Freehold Township and Freehold Borough) while providing maximum opportunities for generating a funding system through subscription use by other governmental agencies.
The compliance study also states that Freehold Township is “an ideal facility for the erection of a permanent touchless/brushless, fully reclaimable, vehicle wash system and would be capable of washing every vehicle in the three municipalities.”
The compliance study suggests that a portable wheel wash solution be placed in Marlboro immediately. This would be capable of washing every vehicle in the three municipal fleets to the storm water regulatory standard.
The compliance study recommendations include the following: the three municipalities should enter a shared services agreement for the purpose of jointly providing wheel/vehicle wash services for storm water management compliance among the three towns; a portable truck wash system should be leased and placed in Marlboro immediately. The system would lease for between $6,900 and $7,900 per month and could be purchased for about $90,000. A lease-purchase arrangement is also possible and may be a better choice, according to the study.
The study also recommends that a permanent system be fully investigated in anticipation of purchasing an appropriate system for eventual placement in Freehold Township. The cost of purchasing such a system starts at $120,000.
Both systems would be within a 17- minute drive of municipalities in four counties, according to the compliance study.