EAST AMWELL BOARD OF HEALTH FEBRUARY 19, 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 (arrived 9:00 p.m.), Les Hamilton, Ted Peyrek, Jim Russo, Michael Stanbro and Larry Tatsch. Tim Martin and David Wang-Iverson were 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 February 12, 2008.

ANNOUNCEMENTS/AGENDA REVIEW

D. Maksymovich announced that the East Amwell Township Board of Health is offering a two week Arsenic Well Sampling Program beginning March 3 through March 14, 2008. Sample kits will be available in the Municipal Building. Ask for the Board of Health’s Administrative Officer, Darlis Maksymovich.

D. Maksymovich added the following items to the agenda: item 6.C.3. Letter of February 13, 2008 from T. Carluccio re: Board of Health requirements; and item 6.E.4. Letter of February 19, 2008 from Gail Genzone re: recertification of well.

PRESENTATION OF MINUTES

The January 15, 2008 minutes were approved with minor corrections by L. Hamilton, seconded by L. Tatsch and was carried with T. Peyrek and M. Stanbro abstaining.

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

There being no comment from the public L. Tatsch motioned to close to the public, seconded by T. Peyrek and was carried by unanimous vote.

UNFINISHED AND NEW BUSINESS

A. HUNTERDON COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH INSPECTOR’S REPORT. Daniel Wyckoff, Hunterdon County Department of Health representative was present for this portion of the meeting.

1. MTBE VICINITY OF ROUTE 202/31 & ROUTE 514 OLD YORK ROAD – UPDATE. D. Wyckoff reported that the County has noted specimen samples have been submitted with no information on the MTBE. M. Stanbro noted that the letter the Board sent to the State was dated January 28^th; it might be a little too soon to receive a response. He commented that it is a concern that the Board does not have anything information for this length of time regarding the sampling. D. Maksymovich remarked that she has not received a response to the letter. D. Maksymovich said that she would discuss this with T. Carluccio to see if she will follow-up.

2. MESZAROS, LINDBERGH ROAD – UPDATE. D. Wyckoff had nothing to report. L. Tatsch added that the Township is continuing to pursue the possible acquisition of the land.

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3. WILLIAMS, BLOCK 27.01 / LOT 11 – SEPTIC SYSTEM MALFUNCTION – UPDATE. D. Wyckoff said that the letter he sent to L. Williams was advising the courts that L Williams was in compliance within a certain degree. He said he had a conversation with L. Williams advising him to have his tenant monitor the water usage more carefully. D. Wyckoff told L. Williams at that time that the County would have an educational meeting with him on proper septic and water use at the establishment; to date that meeting has not occurred. A brief discussion followed.

4. SCHAEFFER, BLOCK 5 / LOT 9 – SEPTIC SYSTEM NOTICE OF VIOLATION – UPDATE. D. Wyckoff reported that the system had been pumped out on February 8^th. He said that plans have not been submitted to the County. D. Maksymovich informed the Board that L. Schaeffer had not yet arranged for soil testing. D. Wyckoff commented that the County inspector was there on the 8^th of February and determined that there is breakout again. The inspector contacted the property owner advising her to pump the tank. M. Stanbro asked if there was breakout when the inspector was there. D. Wyckoff responded that there was effluent coming out of the lid of the septic tank. M. Stanbro asked if the owner is required to pump the system on a regular basis. D. Maksymovich reminded the Board that this was the site that the owners wanted to use the SludgeHammer system to repair the malfunctioning system. The Board told the property owner the Board would not allow the use of the SludgeHammer system and were told she had to get the system repaired or a new design developed. To date the Board has not received a response or paperwork indicating that they are moving forward to correct the system. Discussion followed.

M. Stanbro asked D. Wyckoff, based on the February 8^th inspection, if the County took any action. D. Wyckoff said that the paper work indicates there was a telephone conversation advising that the tank needed to be pumped. He said the owner is still violating the Notice of Violation because no plans have been submitted within 30 days of the original receipt of the letter. He told the Board that the Certified Mail Receipt was received on the 28^th of December; so it is beyond the 30 days. M. Stanbro asked if once that notice is sent and the 30 day limit has passed if there is a standard protocol that the County follows. D. Wyckoff responded not that he can not advise the Board at this time. He said that the penalties can be as severe as $5,000.00 for violating this first Notice of Violation. D. Wyckoff will follow up on this for the next meeting.

5. RICHARDSON, BLOCK 12 / LOT 11 – PEAT MOSS FILTRATION SYSTEM. M. Stanbro recused himself and left the dais at 7:56 p.m.

In the absence of a Chair and Vice-Chair, D. Maksymovich led the discussion. She advised that this septic system, which is a Peat Moss BioFiltration System, was constructed and inspected by the County Inspector without any permits having been issued. The County was actually holding the design for signatures while they were sending inspectors out inspecting the job. She told the Board that she had called B. Vaccarella to find out how something like this could happen and he was going to look into it. She stated that she still does not have everything she needs regarding satisfaction of the conditions for the peat system to be able to release the approved design. She asked D. Wyckoff if he had any information regarding this.

D. Wyckoff responded that he is not sure he has sufficient information for the Board as to why this occurred. He has a paper trail of the inspections; it seems as though it had been reviewed by the Board at one point. D. Maksymovich responded that it was discussed at a Board meeting in April and then was approved with conditions and waivers; it had 16 conditions that had to be

EAST AMWELL BOARD OF HEALTH FEBRUARY 19, 2008 3

fulfilled and some of them had to be done before she could release the design/permit and the applicant had not fulfilled all of those conditions. Discussion followed.

At the conclusion of the discussion it was determined that T. Carluccio, M. Stanbro and D. Maksymovich have a sit-down meeting with Hunterdon County Department of Health representatives to discuss this and other topics of concern.

M. Stanbro returned to the dais at 8:16 p.m.

6. CLAUDE CASE, INC. RE: SOLID WASTE COMPLAINT. D. Wyckoff commented that the Solid Waste Complaint letter was sent on the 7^th; it was received by the property owner on the 8^th of February. The inspector was not available for D. Wyckoff to speak with prior to this meeting. The property owner received the notice of violation so they are aware of the violation; the County does not know what action has been taken at this time. L. Hamilton said that as he understands the County’s only course of action is to address only the solid waste violations; the cars and the pool are not the County’s responsibility. D. Wyckoff said that the cars would be considered solid waste and the pool might not be, it all depends on the nature of the pool and the condition of the pool. M. Stanbro asked if this was the first letter that was sent. D. Wyckoff said that one was sent in November 2007; this is the second notice. The Board would like the dates on the letter corrected and have the County resend the letter. D. Wyckoff told the Board that there has been no action by the landowner. M. Stanbro asked if there was an authority by the County to do anything more stringent. D. Wyckoff said that next the Municipal Court would get involved. He said that he would imagine after a second notice then a summons would be sent and a Court date set. L. Tatsch said that if a letter is sent it should say in the letter what the fine is and that if this is not abated within 30 days it will moved to Municipal Court. L. Tatsch said that it would be good to do with this letter rather then wait another month or so.

7. SAMPLE WORDING FOR CONDITION TO HOLD HARMLESS – DISCUSSION. D. Wyckoff reported that he requested of C. Hobbs and Mr. Beckley that the Board is interested in legal ramifications of using such a term in your letters or your waiver notices and he received no response. He does not have the authority to contact the County attorney. He will try to get an answer for next month’s meeting.

B. PREVIEW COMMITTEE

1. DAHLER, BLOCK 33 / LOT 4.04 – SEPTIC SYSTEM ALTERATION. M. Stanbro commented that this is a septic system alteration. He read from the Hunterdon County Department of Health’s letter the following;

“1. The highest regional water table was at 14 inches in soil log 1 which is higher than the maximum of 24 inches as allowed by code. A waiver would need to be obtained from the Board. The design will still have a 48 inch separation from the regional water table and proposed level of infiltration.

2. There was only one passing pit bail test conducted on the property and not the required 2 passing tests as required by East Amwell ordinance. The engineer has stated in his response letter of December 27, 2007 that there was insufficient ground water existing in July to perform a second test. Pit bail test 1 should have a permeability of 3 in/hr. A waiver from the two passing pit bail tests will be presented to the Board.”

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M. Stanbro reviewed the site plan/septic design with the Board.

Gregg Barkley of Barkley Engineering identified himself for the record. G. Barkley reviewed the site restrictions with the Board. Discussion of the particular site restraints followed.

At the conclusion of the discussion L. Tatsch motioned approval of this design with a waiver to allow the regional water table at 14inches and the second waiver allowing 1 passing pit bail test and with the condition that well distances to the neighboring well be placed on the plan, seconded by L. Hamilton and was carried by unanimous vote.

C. ATMA FAMILY MEDICINE BLOCK 26 / LOT 1.04 WATER METER QUARTERLY REPORT. M. Stanbro acknowledged receipt of the report and reviewed the correspondence as listed on the agenda. M. Stanbro commented that he is not sure if they had actual readings or an estimate. There was concern expressed by the Board that the numbers are not being reported properly. M. Stanbro suggested that the Board follow-up with a letter stating that the Board received this and is trying to understand where the readings are taken. L. Tatsch said that it is possible that they are not reading the meter properly and maybe it is really 21,170. D. Maksymovich was instructed to follow-up with a phone call to make sure they know how to read the meter.

ITEMS OF DISCUSSION

A. SOURLAND MOUNTAIN SMART GROWTH/SOURLAND REGIONAL STORMWATER PLAN/EAST AMWELL MUNICIPAL STORMWATER TASK FORCE. M. Stanbro had nothing to report. The Board reviewed the correspondence as listed on the agenda.

B. EDUCATION AND HEALTH ISSUES. Item 1 is the Winter Road Treatment graph for 2006 and 2007 on chloride and sodium comparisons. A brief discussion followed. D. Maksymovich was asked to get the amount of sodium/chloride used by the Public Works Department.

L. Tatsch suggested contacting S. Spayd (NJDEP) to assist the Board in developing an approach for the Board to determine the actual sodium chloride use from this. S. Spayd would be asked what actually represents sodium chloride and what represents sodium or chlorine from some other source. D. Maksymovich was instructed to contact S. Spayd.

D. Maksymovich stated that the Township had a very successful Rabies Clinic this year. She said in part it was due to our Public Works Department and their cooperation. A note of appreciation was sent to G. Howell.

M. Stanbro noted that Arsenic Well Testing is being offered again March 3^rd through the 14^th. D. Maksymovich advised that an article about this is in the VIP, notice is going home with the school children and it is going to be posted in the Municipal Building and the Post Office. She stated that it is already on the web-site.

C. SCIBILLIA, BLOCK 11 / LOTS 37 & 37.03. L. Tatsch said that this is the continuing saga. D. Maksymovich commented that the Board has not received the information requested of the Scibilias except for the well certification. Discussion followed.

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D. AMWELL VALLEY VINEYARD, BLOCK 17 / LOT 16.03 – UPDATE.

D. Maksymovich informed the Board that the Amwell Valley Vineyard has taken no action to correct the numerous violations on the property. They have not responded to any of the Board’s correspondence explaining to them how to get started on remediating the violations. The Fishers have not taken any action to correct the violations and they are having events there. L. Hamilton asked if they are getting port-a-potties. D. Maksymovich responded yes. L. Hamilton asked if the County inspects for port-a-potties when they do the food inspections. D. Wyckoff responded that D. Maksymovich had asked for the inspector to verify that the bathroom was locked. He said that the inspector’s report did not note if the bathroom was locked.

D. Wyckoff asked the Board why we are allowing events there when there are so many violations. D. Maksymovich commented that the Board’s intent was to work with the Fisher family to resolve the violations. She remarked that a potential purchaser came into the office to review the file but there are so many violations that were of great concern to her. L. Hamilton asked what can be done. D. Maksymovich explained that is why this is on the agenda; what if any action should the Board take. The August communication from the Board to the Fishers has not been acted upon.

L. Hamilton commented that the letter that D. Maksymovich sent on January 14^th has not been answered. D. Maksymovich pointed out that there are not only Board of Health violations on this site. There are Zoning and Construction violations as well. She suggested that the departments work in concert rather than a 3 pronged approach; if the Township departments work together to try to help move this forward it may work to the benefit of the Township and the property owner. Discussion followed.

M. Stanbro commented that the Board sent the original letter on August 10^th. He thinks the Board wants to be sympathetic because the applicant inherited the situation. However, what he finds concerning is that the Board sent a letter with all of the concerns of August 10^th which has not prompted any action. The vineyard was still allowed to move forward with 2 different events in November and February so it hasn’t stopped them from planning and running events there. He said it seems like if they have time to plan events they should have had time to address the violations.

L. Tatsch said that the Board can write another letter and say that progress is to occur or the Board is going to be denying permits. L. Hamilton said there may be progress in Construction and Zoning. D. Maksymovich stated that they have not submitted anything to any of the Township departments. D. Maksymovich asked if the Board wanted this in letter form instead of a phone call. The Board consensus was to send a certified letter.

E. GENZONE, BLOCK 18 / LOT 21.03 – REQUEST FOR APPROVAL OF WATER USE FOR 2-3 HORSES.

M. Stanbro said that the Genzones had sent a letter requesting Board of Health approval to add a couple of horses to the property. The Board sent a letter back that the Board has no information on their well so D. Maksymovich responded and told them effectively what the ordinance says; if there is an increased water use of over 20% the well would need to be re-certified and she sent them a Guide to Horse Management. Discussion followed.

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D. Maksymovich said she would find out the number of bedrooms to do the calculations. M. Stanbro said that they probably do not know the yield of the well since it is an older well. He said ordinance says that the calculation should be done based on bedrooms which then is considered the estimated use.

L. Hamilton asked if we were going to do this by a phone call or by letter. He said it could be done verbally and it may answer their concerns. M. Stanbro suggested a phone call explaining why the Board has the ordinance and what it means and the various ways that the Board has used it. M. Stanbro said that the Board of Health is concerned with water usage. L. Tatsch asked about the location of the septic system; he recalls years ago that it was not appropriate to allow horses on an area which had a septic system below it. He asked if there is a prohibition on that or is it just good practice. T. Carluccio said that she thinks it is just good practice – it is not a strict prohibition but the concern is that the horses would possibly damage the system.

L. Hamilton recapped by saying the Board is asking D. Maksymovich to make a phone call to find out a couple of things, how many bedrooms, the location of the septic system; any evidence of problems with the well. T. Carluccio said it seems to her that one thing that is very important to impress is that this is nothing unusual, the request for this information is just routine as per the ordinance and the Board asks the same thing of every person who is going to be increasing water use. L. Hamilton said that it is really for their own protection to make sure their well is adequate.

F. THE RIDGE AT BACK BROOK, BLOCK 25 / LOT 10 – UPDATE. T. Carluccio commented that the report is quite interesting. She stated that S. Souza is reporting that there is a healthy invertebrate community. The water quality of the stream is of a lesser quality when it enters the golf course then when it leaves. She said the Board knew this and the Ridge has documented over the years some water quality problems associated with the stream as it enters the property. Discussion followed.

L. Hamilton asked if the Board agrees with S. Souza to eliminate the benthic monitoring of the stream. He stated that just because things are great today does not mean they will be great five years from now; he could see having a longer period between the monitoring and not doing away with it altogether. L. Tatsch commented that the benthic is now done once a year. T. Carluccio responded yes but some sampling events were missed because of weather; so the Board does not have a lot of data.

T. Carluccio said The Ridge is planning on doing some expansion; it might be important to maintain the established monitoring schedule considering the plans for expansion. L. Hamilton stated that he would disagree with S. Souza’s recommendation. T. Carluccio asked what the other Board members thought. The general consensus is to have The Ridge at Back Brook continue with the monitoring as scheduled. T. Carluccio said that at this point the Board will take S. Souza’s recommendation under advisement. L. Hamilton said that someone needs to talk to S. Souza to let him know the Board wants to keep the same schedule. T. Carluccio agreed to call S. Souza and pass that back to him.

G. PEAT MOSS FILTRATION SYSTEMS – DISCUSSION. D. Maksymovich commented that this item was placed on the agenda at her request. She told the Board that the requirements/conditions for Peat Moss Filtration Systems are not working. She commented that one of the systems has been put in without a permit, property has changed at 117 Wertsville Road; money was put in escrow for the construction of the septic system which is a peat moss

EAST AMWELL BOARD OF HEALTH FEBRUARY 19, 2008 7

filtration system; the people who recently purchased the property do not want a peat system; they do not want to be bothered with all of this “rigamarole” and he does not want to have to pay annually for an inspection. D. Maksymovich told the Board that it is a malfunctioning system and they are living there. She stated that she does not have the necessary information/paperwork from them to release the permit. She then informed the Board that 9 Zion Road, where a peat system had been put in by the previous owners, changed hands. D. Maksymovich wrote the owner requesting a copy of the inspection report. The new owner said that no one told her she had to do anything; she had no idea what she was supposed to be doing. She claims she did not see a contract; she didn’t see guidance documents. D. Maksymovich told the Board that the new owner is upset because she bought a house with a system that she has to spend money on every year. Discussion followed.

T. Carluccio said that the bigger question is are these systems with all of these conditions too much for East Amwell Township to handle. The Board does not have a staff that tracks these systems like a bigger township does. The Board has the short period of time (3 hours per day) that D. Maksymovich has to do all of the basic work and perhaps this is really too much for the Board to administer. D. Maksymovich added that now with the new guidance from Trenton, peat systems can be used for new construction. T. Carluccio suggested that the Board have a committee to review the new guidelines from the State and see how it will impact the Township’s ordinance; the Board may need to have a separate ordinance for peat systems. She continued by saying maybe the Board should go through the work of doing an ordinance and evaluating whether or not the Board wants to include this alternative system or not. If the Board does formalize an ordinance the State wants all Municipalities that have an ordinance for these systems to have septic management districts. The septic management district is a specific regulation under the State Code which requires all septic system owners to pump at a certain time. She said the Board got tremendous resistance from the community when this was previously discussed publicly but that was several years ago. She suggested that this is something the Board should have a committee to work on this year. At this time there is evidence that the Board is having problems in enforcing the long list of conditions for peat systems and the very thing the Board was worried about is happening; when the property changes hands the new purchasers are not fully aware of the complexity of the system. T. Carluccio said that the ordinance committee should convene to look at the new guidelines.

SECRETARY’S ORAL REPORT

East Amwell Township Spring Newsletter: D. Maksymovich reported that the Recycling/Environmental Commission is soliciting articles for the Spring Newsletter. D. Maksymovich offered to pull something together for the newsletter. T. Carluccio suggested an article on protecting your well water. M. Stanbro suggested including a statement on the sensitivity of the Sourland Mountains.

Pervious Concrete: D. Maksymovich shared a brochure with the Board regarding a new product which is pervious concrete; water passes right through it. She remarked that she had shared this information with the other Township Boards and personnel.

Well Witness: D. Maksymovich stated that the Board is having a problem providing well witnesses in a timely manner. Discussion followed. It was determined that the secretary would contact William Zick, ex-Board member who used to do most of the well witnessing when he was on the Board and ask him if he would be interested in being the Board’s Well Witness. The

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Board would have to entertain a motion to have a person other than presently named witnesses do the well witnessing. L. Tatsch motioned that the Board contact Bill Zick and see if he is willing to perform this particular test and also if he is willing to be the Board’s agent for future tests and if he is not able to perform this particular test that the Board authorize Tom Stover to be the witness on this test. The motion was seconded by T. Peyrek and was carried by unanimous vote.

Sourland Mountain mailing: D. Maksymovich told the Board that many letters have gone out to real estate agents in the area with a copy of the Sourland Mountain protection document. She stated that more recently the Township has had new residents move into the Sourland Mountains not realizing how environmentally sensitive the mountain is. She told the Board they have violated the Sourland Mountain Ordinance without realizing the Township has an ordinance to protect the mountain. The Planning Board sent out over 100 letters to real estate agents.

Administrative Order and Notice of Civil Administrative Penalty Assessment Block 27 / Lot 9.04. D. Maksymovich reviewed the correspondence with the Board. She explained that the property owner has put a lot of debris and material in the wetland buffer and in the wetlands. She told the Board that she called NJDEP because the letter stated that he had 20 days to remediate and pay a $10,500.00 fine. So she called Barbara Baus, Section Chief for Bureau of Coastal and Land Use Compliance and Enforcement. B. Baus told D. Maksymovich that D. Goloczewski has requested a hearing which puts this case in the Attorney General’s office. That will hold up the clean up for awhile. She said that in addition to that DEP is now going to make Rutgers’s Nursery on Route 31, which is next door to this property, clean up all of Rutgers’s violations.

Radon Awareness Month: D. Maksymovich reported that Radon Awareness Month went very well.

RESOLUTION TO ENTER EXECUTIVE SESSION TO DISCUSS PERSONNEL MATTERS – ACTION MAY BE TAKEN. L. Hamilton motioned to enter executive session, seconded by M. Stanbro and was carried by unanimous vote.

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BOARD OF HEALTH

RESOLUTION #01-08

WHEREAS, the Open Public Meetings Act, P.L. 1975, Chapter 231 permits the exclusion of the public from a meeting in certain circumstances; and

WHEREAS, the East Amwell Township Board of Health is of the opinion that circumstances presently exist; and

WHEREAS, the Board of Health of the Township of East Amwell wishes to discuss personnel matters; and

WHEREAS, minutes will be kept and once the matter involving the confidentiality of the above no longer requires that confidentiality, then minutes can be made public;

EAST AMWELL BOARD OF HEALTH FEBRUARY 19, 2008 9

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the public be excluded from this meeting.

By Order of the Board of Health,

______________________________

Tracy Carluccio, Chair

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T. Peyrek recused himself from Executive Session at 10:14 p.m.

T. Peyrek returned to the dais at 10:23 p.m.

Upon returning to public session M. Stanbro motioned to accept the contract of Mr. Vincent Uhl as the Board of Health’s consulting hydrogeologist, seconded by L. Hamilton and was carried with one abstention.

CORRESPONDENCE

The correspondence was reviewed as listed on the agenda.

BILLS OF THE EVENING

L. Hamilton motioned to pay the bills of the evening, seconded by J. Rosso and was carried by unanimous vote.

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

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

ADJOURNMENT

L. Tatsch motioned to adjourn the meeting at 10:25 p.m., seconded by T. Peyrek and was carried by unanimous vote.

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Darlis Maksymovich, Administrative Officer