Howell Holds $54K Lien Against Proposed Waste Transfer Site

HOWELL, NJ — The company that owns the site of a controversial proposed waste transfer station owes more than $54,000 in back taxes and penalties to Howell Township, according to township records.

Resource Engineering LLC, which owns the property at 34 Randolph Road and has been seeking to turn it into a waste transfer station since 2017, is among more than 200 properties listed on the tax sale list published in the agenda of the March 5 Howell Township Council meeting.

The listing, spotted by a member of the Howell Happenings NJ Facebook group, shows a tax lien was sold on the property in October 2017 in the amount of $15,439.02. Since that sale, on Oct. 18, 2017, an additional $28,334,.94 in liens has accrued, along with $11,071.42 in interest.

The current amount required to redeem the lien is $54,845.38, according to the list.

Resource Engineering has sought to have the Randolph Road property become added to Monmouth County's list of waste transfer stations dating back to 2017, but the proposal has faced fierce opposition from neighbors both in the immediate vicinity and on nearby roads in part because of the anticipated increase in large trucks expected to travel some local roads to reach the site.

In addition, there have been concerns raised about what materials the site would handle, because of its proximity to the headwaters of the Metedeconk River, a major source of drinking water in the area and a Category One water source according to the state Department of Environmental Protection. Read more: Brick MUA Questions Proposed Howell Solid Waste Station

Howell Township Mayor Theresa Berger and current and former council members have publicly voiced opposition to the proposal, which is before the Monmouth County Solid Waste Advisory Council. That public opposition came after former township manager Jeffrey Mayfield wrote a letter to the county in May 2017 saying the township supported the station.

Opposition from residents led to the creation of the Stop the Dump in Howell group, which has an ongoing petition urging the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders and the solid waste advisory committee to reject the proposal.

John Bonevich, newly elected to the council in November, ran in part on a platform opposing the transfer station, and in February, the new council affirmed its opposition in a vote on a new resolution.

A new traffic study was supposed to be undertaken on the proposal, in response to multiple questions about increased congestion and the effect of massive trucks on the local roads, according to a Jersey Shore Online report. But that study had to be postponed when a bridge on Ramtown Greenville Road was damaged during the flash flooding caused in the August rainstorm that flooded hundreds of homes in the area. Tri-Town News reported the contract for the traffic study was awarded by Monmouth County in September, but the work was delayed until the bridge repairs were completed. The bridge reopened late in 2018.

The Stop the Dump in Howell petition can be found here.

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