EAST AMWELL BOARD OF HEALTH                                MAY 20, 2008            1

 

The regular meeting of the Board of Health came to order at 7:30 p.m.  Present for this meeting were Tony Berberabe, Tracy Carluccio, Les Hamilton, Ted Peyrek, Jim Russo, Michael Stanbro, Larry Tatsch and David Wang-Iverson.  Tim Martin was absent.

 

In compliance with the Open Public Meeting Act this meeting was advertised as a regularly scheduled meeting in the January 24, 2008 issue of the Hunterdon County Democrat.  Notice of the meeting was sent to the applicants, filed with the Township Clerk, posted on the bulletin board, and sent to the Hunterdon County Democrat and Trenton Times on May 14, 2008.

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS/AGENDA REVIEW

 

D. Maksymovich added the following item to the agenda:  item 5.A.1.f. letter of April 23, 2008 from NJ Department of Environmental Protection to Hess Corporation regarding a NOTICE OF DEFICIENCY.

 

PRESENTATION OF THE MINUTES

 

The April 22, 2008 regular minutes were approved with minor corrections by L. Tatsch, seconded by David Wang-Iverson and was carried by unanimous vote.

 

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

 

Freda Routh, 1 Linvale Road identified herself for the record and read the following statement:  “For the record I am the adjoining neighbor of Unionville Vineyards.  As you probably all know by now Unionville is in the process of selling the vineyard.  I am not opposing the sale in fact I support the Zoning Board’s decision to remove the restriction of selling to a non-family member.

 

I am here to address my concerns about the operations at Unionville as pertains to wastewater for both the wine processing production and the other uses on the property which include a farmhouse, cottage, retail winery store and various catered events, weddings, etc.  Unionville started small but has continually expanded both the size of their vineyard, promotional activities and the equipment.  Further, a substantial amount of grapes from other sites are being processed at Unionville.  There have been no improvements to the wastewater management capabilities of the property and there is no reliable report of their water use.

 

I am not going to play the he said/she said game of my disputes with Unionville’s claims of less than 1 gallon of wastewater per gallon of wine produced versus industry reported average of about 5 gallons of wastewater per gallon of wine produced.  I will gladly provide you with my data and sources in writing.

 

 

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However, I would like to point out that the design of wastewater treatment facilities and well certification should be based not on last year’s production or even next year’s production but rather on the production capacity of the equipment.  A wine expert should be consulted to determine whether the status quo seepage pit, septics and wells are adequate.  When someone decides to build or expand a house, a septic design is required that is based on the size of the house, not how many people are going to occupy it initially.  The 2004 Variance which allowed expanded ancillary activities was contingent on Board of Health approval.

 

There are some outstanding issues that I believe need to be addressed: 

 

1. Well.  After much back and forth about non-residential well certification, the 1992 well was finally certified for the water consumption of a three bedroom residence.  Even if the total annual water usage was equivalent that is not adequate since peak demand during the so called crush is sometimes 3-4 times the low period usage.  There were numerous requests from the Board that the well be metered.  The correspondence ended with the last request from T. Carluccio in January of 2005 being ignored.  Also my husband and I volunteered to have monitoring on our well than would record drawdown of water levels of their well.  I would like to re-state our willingness and desire for such monitoring;

2.  I see no indication that DEP has ever been contacted regarding the need for a NJDEP permit as requested.  Wineries are a part of the food processing industry and regulated as such by the EPA.

3.  I have followed the minutes of the Board and see no reports from the County Board of Health inspector regarding the seepage pit which was malfunctioning in December of 2003.

4.  Finally I would like to point out a Board of Health condition (agreed upon by Unionville) that should the property be sold the floor drains must be removed and that condition reflected in the sales contract.  I hope this condition will be enforced.

 

I believe resolving these issues now will be mutually beneficial to the new owner and the town.”

 

T. Carluccio thanked F. Routh for her comments.

 

Joe Sowsian, Bernice Sowsian and John Ferrante, 37 Orchard Road came forward and identified themselves for the record.  B. Sowsian told the Board that they were before the Board because of a problem with the property that they sold to a Mr. C. Travers.  She explained the history since 1997 when the lot was approved as a building lot during the preservation of the farm. B. Sowsian stated that C. Travers submitted a septic design to the Hunterdon County Department of Health and received a letter indicating that more soil testing needs to be done for a reserve area.   J. Sowsian reiterated that the lot was approved in 1997.  T. Carluccio asked if there was a septic system approved at the time.  J. Sowsian responded yes.  J. Ferrante interjected that he is not sure if a system was

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designed or if just the soil testing was done to show that the soils could support a system.                  He said the Planning Board passed Resolution 97-12 to approve this lot.   

 

T. Carluccio told the Board that she had met with the Sowsians and they discussed that this is a legal building lot that was subdivided off when they preserved the farm.  She stated that one of the lots was sold in 2006 and the person who bought it has now decided to build a residence and his engineer submitted a Septic Design application to Hunterdon County Department of Health and the County sent back a letter saying that approval was denied based on many conditions not being met.  She said that at this point the Board was not involved.  The letter was sent to the engineer as is the County’s typical procedure.   The Board reviewed the letter from the County.  Discussion followed.

 

At the conclusion of the discussion it was determined that there was no action the Board could take at this time.  The Board advised the Sowsians to contact their attorney to seek legal advice.    

 

There being no further comments from the public M. Stanbro motioned to close to the public, seconded by L. Hamilton and carried by unanimous vote.

 

UNFINISHED AND NEW BUSINESS

 

A.            HUNTERDON COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH INSPECTOR’S REPORT.  Dan Wyckoff, Hunterdon County Department of Health Inspector was not in attendance.  He provided written documentation on the cases listed below.

 

            1.            MTBE VICINITY OF ROUTE 202/31 & ROUTE 514 OLD YORK ROAD – UPDATE.   D. Wyckoff provided the information that the County will be able to check on the results of tests taken at the Hess location when posted by the NJDEP.  1st Quarter of 2008 results have not been posted as yet.  T. Carluccio told the Board that D. Wyckoff is going on a web-site and looking at the results as DEP posts them.  L. Hamilton commented that this does not substitute for the reports the Board used to receive.  L. Tatsch said no but it does provide information.  L. Hamilton apologized for not getting the letter he offered to write last month to Hess.  He told the Board D. Maksymovich was very helpful with some information and he will try to get the draft done within the next few weeks.

 

T. Carluccio commented on the NOTICE OF DEFICIENCY that was added to the agenda this evening from the NJDEP regarding non-compliance.  She read the following from the notice, “Deficiency; is failure to identify any changes to ground water use in the water use planning area …submit an evaluation of the well search with regard to any potential impact of the contaminated plume on any human receptor.”

 

L. Hamilton asked if this would affect the neighboring properties.  T. Carluccio responded that she did not know.  She said that the Township got this from the State; the

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Clerk of Ringoes was copied, so the Board could respond to the State.  The Board could say we are concerned about this deficiency and are concerned about how neighbors might be impacted and request that they please keep the East Amwell Township Board of Health informed on this.  A brief discussion followed.

At the conclusion of the discussion it was determined that the Administrative Officer would send a letter to the State expressing the Board’s concern; offer to help in any way possible.  In the letter the Board will once again request copies of the monthly sampling reports informing the State of the close monitoring the Board has done with this site.  A copy of the letter is to go to David Muscalo of Advocate Environmental and the Hess Corporation.  

 

            2.            MESZAROS, LINDBERGH ROAD - UPDATE.  D. Wyckoff indicated

the County had nothing to report.  L. Tatsch also had nothing new to report.

 

            3.            DITZEL, BLOCK 25/ LOT 9 – UPDATE.  D. Wyckoff indicated that there is nothing further to report.  The complaint has been closed.  The Board was pleased with this outcome.

 

            4.            OWENS (a.k.a. Woody’s) BLOCK 16 / LOT 11 – UPDATE.   D. Wyckoff indicated that Gerald Hahn, Case Manager, BUST/NJDEP called this past week.  The well sampling has been conducted and the samples have been submitted to the NJDEP.  No one on the Board had anything to add.            

 

            5.            STUART, BLOCK 21 / LOT 7 – SOLID WASTE COMPLAINT.  D. Wyckoff indicated that the clean up has been on going and is scheduled to be completed by May 22, 2008.  The Stuarts are on tract with the clean up.  A final follow-up inspection is scheduled.  No one on the Board had anything to add.

 

            6.            WENGRYN, BLOCK 14 / LOT 24 – SOLID WASTE COMPLAINT.  D. Wyckoff indicated that the property owner is making progress.  The clean-up must be completed by July 23, 2008.  The property owner will be working with his son to complete the work.  The property owner is elderly, consequently additional time for the clean-up was granted. Viewing the past history…the property owner seems to have a pattern…he does clean-up though.  L. Tatsch added that the Board had information in their packet that this dates back to 2002.  D. Maksymovich interjected that this is a site that the owner does clean up when he receives the Notice of Violation and then it takes two or three years for them to re-collect things and create another solid waste issue.  M. Stanbro said that this is a new situation at an old site.

 

            7.            ZALETA, BLOCK 42 / LOT 7.01 – SEPTIC REPAIR DENIAL.  D. Wyckoff indicated that the inspector reviewing the plan was concerned about the nature of the repair.  This same type of repair was conducted in 2000 and she has questions she needs to ask the home owners – should an entire new system be put in because of the repetitive nature of the repair?  M. Stanbro asked if there was an application at this point

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for a new system.  D. Maksymovich responded that there is an application for a repair at the County and the County is questioning if the system should be replaced. 

 

            8.            HUNTERDON COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT COMPLAINT REPORT, BLOCK 24 / LOT 11 FROM ODE KEIDERLING, REHS, HUNTERDON COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH.  D. Wyckoff indicated that the Inspector’s report was comprehensive.  There has not been a follow up inspection scheduled at this time.

 

B.            PREVIEW COMMITTEE

 

            1.            SURFACE WATER MANAGEMENT PLAN REPORT FOR THOMPSON GROUP, BLOCK 16.01 / PART OF LOT 26.   T. Carluccio commented that the Preview Committee only had one item; the Surface Water Management Plan Amendment application to the NJDEP for an office complex on Route 202/31.  The Preview Committee met and discussed this and she will go through what they discussed.

 

T. Carluccio said this is an application by Thompson Real Estate to build an office complex on Route 202 north of the Municipal Building just before Route 514 on the right hand side.  The proposal is to build 4 commercial business buildings 2 stories each, 16,000 square feet per building; a total of 64,000 square feet on approximately 53 acres. 

 

M. Stanbro said that this is in the Amwell Valley Agricultural Zone so there are quite a lot of things going on there.  He said at this stage in the planning the applicant has looked at the water and usage planning.  He reviewed the report(s) with the Board. 

 

M. Stanbro stated that the calculations were done for water usage based on standard off site practices using square footages of the office buildings to do all of their calculations; there is no clear information in these reports other then being office buildings.  He said there is no information on the number of occupants so the engineer used square footage to do generally all of the calculations that are provided.  He said a standard in ground septic system would require a septic field of about 40 acres; it was a huge piece of land that would be needed to treat the wastewater.  Instead the plan proposes a biological treatment system on site that would then discharge that water into the remaining property through a disposal field.  He stated that there are some wetlands on the property.  Discussion followed.

 

L. Hamilton asked if this was before the Planning Board.  D. Maksymovich said that the Planning Board only received a copy of the letter but not the entire report.  L. Tatsch said that this was before the Planning Board briefly last year and it was acknowledged that this area would have to be rezoned.  He said that last year the Planning Board was talking about rezoning this for this purpose.  M. Stanbro said that the projected wastewater flow was 6.400 gallons per day based on the square footage and the proposed water supply was 8,000 gallons per

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day based on the projected flow which again are based on square footage.  L. Hamilton asked if this would be before this Board because of the size of the project.  T. Carluccio responded that she does not think it will come to the Board for the approval of the septic system.  It falls under the jurisdiction of NJDEP.  She said the Planning Board or the Township Committee may ask the Board of Health to look at it.  However, it will come before the Board of Health for well certification.  The State will not review the well use since it is under the use threshold they review, so the Board of Health would do a non-residential well certification for the property.        

 

T. Carluccio said for background, The Water Quality Management Plan is a plan that covers the Upper Raritan Area which East Amwell is part of and the Wastewater Management Plan is a sub-plan of that.  As the Board discussed last month, the Township does not have a current Wastewater Management Plan.  She said even though the Township has done amendments to our Water Quality Management Plan the Wastewater Plan is not updated.  She reminded the Board that the Board sent a memo to the Planning Board last month suggesting they take on that project.   

 

T. Carluccio explained that there are certain things an applicant has to do when they make an amendment application as outlined in the Water Quality Management Plan rules and then if the applicant needs a NJPDES permit then the rules that cover a NJPDES program apply.  She said the NJPDES rules will kick in because of the wastewater treatment system.  She said Executive Order 109 was put into place several years back and it defines what an applicant has to look at when they do a Water Quality Management Plan Amendment and this application goes through those various requirements. 

 

T. Carluccio suggested the Board do a memo to the Planning Board and the Township Committee and bring certain things to their attention.  The Board can state the facts discussed but the Board should also note that this report needs review and approval by the Township Engineer who is our Stormwater Coordinator.  Apparently Applied Water Management is going to design a Biological Treatment System which will basically pre-treat the effluent and then discharge it to a septic field which is a discharge to ground water.  L. Tatsch asked if it was aerobic.  T. Carluccio said we don’t know and we will not know those details until Mr. Thompson goes for his NJPDES Permit and his TWA Permit application.

 

L. Hamilton said for a project this size they can not fit a large enough septic system on the site so they are going to go with this alternative system which the Board does not allow in the ordinance.  He stated that everyone that comes before this Board is told to fit the project to the size of the property and this is going the other way around.  T. Carluccio agreed.  She said with a system like this the concern is about continued maintenance and who is going to be responsible for it.  She stated that the Board suggests in a memo that there be a bond or a sinking fund posted to make sure that this operation

 

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is properly operated and maintained.  L. Hamilton said the Township is no longer required to be a co-permittee.  T. Carluccio agreed.  She said in the Township Stormwater Ordinance there is a quite extensive portion that deals with maintenance and management of all stormwater systems.  She would also suggest the Board put in the memo that the Stormwater Infiltration Basin that is going to be put on the property would also have to have one of these bonds or sinking funds set-up. 

 

T. Carluccio told the Board there is also a requirement in the Water Quality Management Plan Amendment that a depletive and consumptive water use analysis is done.  She does not know why it is missing from here; maybe they are exempt for some reason but she thinks the Board should bring it up because it was not done. The application says in at least two places that all of the Environmental Constrained Areas were mapped and then the project was set in the areas outside of the Constrained Areas but in the amendment application form it mentions that there is going to need to be an outfall structure with impervious surface into the wetland. 

 

T. Carluccio said that the Board’s role here at this point is to review and comment.  The Board can send comments to the Planning Board and Township Committee.  She would suggest that that report be sent by the Township Committee to the State.  L. Tatsch suggested getting guidance from the Planning Board about where they are in the process and what they think is the best way to get information.  D. Maksymovich inserted that she asked the Planning Board Administrative Officer if the Planning Board had received anything on this and her response was that the Board’s copy was the first she had seen it so it has not been before the Planning Board yet.  T. Carluccio said that in terms of the Board’s input if there is a deadline on comment to the DEP to the Board wants to make sure that the comments are submitted in a timely way even if the Planning Board is not involved yet.  She remarked that the Township would not want to miss the opportunity for comment.                   

 

C.            SILVA, BLOCK 8 / LOT 8 – ALTERNATIVE SEPTIC SYSTEM REVIEW/COMMENTS.  M. Stanbro commented that this has come to the Preview Committee, it hasn’t come to the full Board’s attention yet.  Effectively this was for an alternative system using a drip dispersal system so the Board had M. Miller of the NJDEP review the plans and provide some commentary.  He said that the letter of May 5th from the Board was sent to the applicant as a result of this review.  He said there are a number of things highlighted in all areas of the plan; there were some inconsistencies in the plan on fill select types that were noted, inconsistencies in terminology between drip dispersal

and drip irrigation.  Several comments were corrective guidance that the Board requested.  It was noted neither the applicant nor his professional were in attendance.

 

M. Stanbro told the Board that at this stage there is nothing for the Board to approve.  The Board did send this letter with a number of requests to the applicant asking that the plan be clarified and that the applicant get the information back to the Board before the June meeting if possible.   

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D.            SCIBILIA, BLOCK 11 / LOT 37.03 – UPDATE.  M. Stanbro reminded the Board that this has been discussed at prior meetings.  The Board requested to get an updated septic as-built and the Board needs to do a site visit to see that the system is flagged in the field.  M. Stanbro commented that the diagram/plan is not an as-built but as close to an as-built as the Board is going to be able to get.  He said that he would check to see if the field has indeed been marked.  A brief discussion followed.

 

L. Tatsch said in the interest of moving this ahead the Board should accept this; it is not ideal but it will be the best the Board will get from the applicant.  This site will be on a future Board of Health agenda for the Lot Line Adjustment when that application goes before the Planning Board.

 

E.            AMWELL VALLEY VINEYARD, BLOCK 17 / LOT 16.02 – UPDATE.  Debi and Jeff Fisher came forward to identify themselves for the record.  T. Carluccio thanked the Fishers for attending the meeting tonight.  She said that she knows they got the letters and the Board got the letter back from Mr. Zuegner.  J. Fisher said that he would like to make a note of the fact that all of the times that this has happened not one representative from the Estate, being the judiciary handler and/or the Estate attorney have turned up.  He said they have been the only ones that handle this.  Letters are easy to write, it is a lot harder to stand up in public and state your case. When Mr. Ziegler did attend one meeting last year he wasn’t very aware of anything.  So that indicates their handling of this issue.

 

T. Carluccio asked if they have been making progress in meeting the requirements outlined in the letter that the Board sent.  The response is that nothing has been done.  A very lengthy discussion followed regarding the history of the vineyard and what is happening with the estate at this point.  The Fishers explained that they own the business but the Estate owns the land.

 

At the end of the discussion T. Carluccio said the Board could consider taking the estate to court to enforce the requirements.  She told the Board that she spoke to Fred Allen, Board Attorney, about the Board’s liability.  The Board is not liable for problems unless the Board knew there was a specific health problem such as bacteria in the water that was being served; the Board does not know that that is happening.  If the Board wanted to press the issues, the Board could take the Estate to court.  She said the Fishers came here tonight and discussed this personal and business information; the Board never uses legal action as its first recourse.  But, as an interim step the Board could refuse to issue the permits needed for events at the vineyard such as a temporary food license but that would not hurt the land owner, it would only hurt the business owner.  M. Stanbro commented that the last event that was held we had a number of restrictions to not use certain facilities that did not have the permit. There is an alternative plan and he thinks the Fishers adhered to that in the past.  T. Carluccio said that one thing the Board needs to be very clear about is that the bathrooms in the Tasting Room must be locked during those events.  The Board was informed that they were not locked at the last event so that is

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important.  Only the port-a-potties are to be used by the public, not the bathroom facilities in the Tasting Room.  The Fishers both said that they were not aware that the bathroom facilities had been used.  T. Carluccio said a problem of a septic system overload can be prevented if they are locked during events.  The Fishers agreed to this condition.  L. Tatsch said that he would suggest that by mid-summer, July or August, the Board can revisit this situation again.  He said it seems unfair to withhold permits now.   M. Stanbro said that if the restrictions on use are followed, based on the circumstances as defined, he would support the Board allowing the same conditional use that the Board allowed last time and then perhaps by August/September the Board will revisit this.  L. Hamilton asked the Fishers to let the Board know when there is a change in circumstances.  He said the Board could put this on the agenda for the August meeting.  J. Fisher said that he would definitely agree to that.  It was agreed that the Fishers would attend the August meeting and let the Board know the status of the estate/property/ownership.

 

L. Tatsch motioned to allow D. Fisher and J. Fisher to apply for Temporary Food Licenses and Port-a-Potties Licenses for on site events with the bathroom in the Tasting Room locked.  The Board will issue licenses until after this next event and then get an update in August and find out the status of the estate/property and then the Board can decide on a course of action.  L. Hamilton seconded the motion which was carried by unanimous vote.        

 

F.            SOUTH COUNTY PARK TREATMENT WORKS APPROVAL PERMIT APPLICATION, BLOCK 8.02 / LOT 25.01.  L. Tatsch informed the Board that he signed the application along with the signing statement. 

 

G.            WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR EAST AMWELL TOWNSHIP.  T. Carluccio reviewed the correspondence as listed on the agenda.

 

ITEMS OF DISCUSSION

 

A.            SOURLAND MOUNTAIN SMART GROWTH/SOURLAND REGJIONAL WATERSHED PLAN/EAST AMWELL MUNICIPAL STORMWATER TASK FORCE.

 

Sourland Mountain Smart Growth:  T. Carluccio had nothing to report.

 

 

Sourland Regional Watershed Plan:  T. Carluccio had nothing to report.

 

East Amwell Municipal Stormwater Task Force:  T. Carluccio had nothing to report.

 

B.            EDUCATION AND HEALTH ISSUES.  T. Carluccio told the Board that she and D. Maksymovich went to the Hunterdon County Department of Health mixer.  She

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told the Board that there were not many other Townships represented.  She said that the County was expecting about 25 people but there weren’t that many there.  She remarked that it was a good program and it was good that East Amwell Board of Health was represented.  She gave a brief overview of the evening.  She told the Board that D. Maksymovich got some information and brochures that she brought back and has already put on display in the Township Building.  L. Tatsch remarked that it looks great.  T. Carluccio said that the County has a new initiative to educate people on their physical health and next year the County is going to do an orientation for new Board members for Boards of Health.

 

SECRETARY’S ORAL REPORT

 

King Interest, Block 38 / Lot 16:  D. Maksymovich reported that she has not heard from Mr. King regarding closing/sealing the well or about getting a permit to drill a new well.  She asked the Board what action should be taken.  T. Carluccio suggested that D. Maksymovich send another letter asking if the well had been sealed and to supply verification that it has been sealed.  

 

Outdoor Wood Burning Stove:  D. Maksymovich reported that there is a wood burning stove on Rainbow Hill Road for 3 years that has not had any inspections.  She informed the Board that she brought this to the Construction Official’s attention.

 

NJCWA Meeting on June 3rd:  D. Maksymovich commented that she sent an e-mail to the Board members regarding this meeting.    

 

Gypsy Moth Spraying:  D. Maksymovich reported that the Gypsy Moth Spraying occurred yesterday morning.  She told the Board that the Public Works Department came in at 4:00 a.m. because they had to identify with flashlights where the planes were supposed to spray.  The substance being released was BT which is safe and not chemical.  She told the Board that it was very successful.  

 

CORRESPONDENCE

 

T. Carluccio reviewed the correspondence as listed on the agenda.

 

BILLS OF THE EVENING

 

L. Hamilton motioned to pay the bills of the evening, seconded by M. Stanbro and carried by unanimous vote.

 

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

 

There being no public present L. Hamilton motioned to close to the public, seconded by L. Tatsch and was carried by unanimous vote.

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ADJOURNMENT

 

At 9:28 p.m. L. Tatsch motioned to adjourn the meeting, seconded by M. Stanbro and was carried by unanimous vote.

 

                                                            _________________________________________                                                              Darlis Maksymovich, Administrative Officer