New Tinton Falls Sewer Study Could Lead To Increased Hookup Fees

The Tinton Falls Council will soon be focusing its attention on the borough's sewers as a study could soon be conducted to identify some problem areas and to look at the possibility of increasing hookup fees.

Mayor Michael Skudera said there have been failures in the sewer system over the last few months that have required emergency funding to fix.

"We are at a point where things are getting older," Mayor Skudera said. "We want to do a 10-year projection to be proactive. I would like to see a study done and look at the sewer connection fees."

Mayor Skudera said the borough has not raised sewer hookup fees for new residents in ten years. Borough Administrator Gerald Turning said the current hookup fee is $2,156.

"Just for comparison's sake, Ocean Township's fee is over $5,000," Turning said.

"We're not trying to milk anybody, but it probably should have been raised with inflation," Mayor Skudera said.

Council President Gary Baldwin said he agreed that the fees should be increased but that Tinton Falls should "still be the cheapest guys in town."

Mayor Skudera said a capital study could help the borough save money it spends on repairing sewerage failures such as a recent one on Heritage Boulevard.

He said that during the spill, there was a problem with a circuit breaker and the "phone system could not call out" to warn people of the problem.

Turning said the sewer phone system is still hardwired by a landline, and that there are other options for alerting people of problems including the use off cellphones.

"Things happen, bu we don't want to be unprepared and we want to plan for the future," Mayor Skudera said.

Turning said a Powerpoint presentation will be prepared for a future council meeting to show the public the results of the sewer study.