Holmdel Road Work For Gas Regulator Project Continues This Week

HOLMDEL, NJ - Part of Holmdel Road will be closed this week as NJ Natural Gas continues work on a gas regulator project.

The county road will be closed from Roberts Road to Route 520 from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. from June 26 to at least June 30, the township said in a social media post. Police said Tuesday businesses on Holmdel Road can be accessed from Route 520.

The road work continues as the township contests the project in court.

The township has been involved in continuing litigation with the gas company about its plan to build a regulator station at 960 Holmdel Road in the southern part of the township. The proposal got its latest go ahead recently from the state Board of Public Utilities.

The work on Holmdel Road is related to ongoing work with the NJ Natural Gas project, a company spokesman said, providing the following comment:

“Both the BPU and administrative law judge in this matter have agreed with NJNG that this is an important project that is in the public interest to benefit Holmdel residents and other customers in the area with safe, reliable lifeline natural gas service. We are moving forward with construction of the regulator station,” according to the statement from Director of Communications Kevin Roberts last week.

Peter Dickson, the township's attorney in the case, earlier this year filed notice to appeal the BPU decision to permit the regulator in the Appellate Division of Superior Court. The committee had already approved an amount not to exceed $20,000 to pursue the legal action by the firm of Potter-Dickson, Princeton.

Township Attorney Michael L. Collins reported to the Township Committee last Tuesday that a stay requested by the township to stop any work by the utility was denied. The appeal continues.

In a statement last week, Mayor DJ Luccarelli said “Our community has done everything in its power to fight this. Unfortunately the BPU has overridden everything that we were fighting for.”

The statement also included the update on the litigation between the gas company regulator project and the township:

• The Holmdel Zoning Board had denied an application by New Jersey Natural Gas to install gas regulator equipment on Holmdel Road, a decision which the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities overrode.
• The Township Committee appealed the BPU’s decision to the Appellate Court and filed a request for leave to file an emergent appeal, asking the Appellate Court to put the installation on hold pending the outcome of the appeal.
• The Appellate Court recently denied the requested stay and the gas company has moved forward with the installation of the gas regulator equipment.

As a public utility, the gas company was not required to obtain construction permits from the township.

Should the Township ultimately win its appeal, it is Holmdel’s expectation that the gas company would be ordered to remove the regulator station, the mayor's statement said.

The mayor noted that the township is awaiting the result of the appeal, as mentioned earlier in the story, and that Holmdel continues to litigate this matter on behalf of its residents.

“No options were left on the table, and there is no more that we could have done for our residents that we haven’t done,” said Luccarelli.

"There will be a decision from the Appellate Court at some point in the future, and we look forward to that result,” he added in the statement.

Related: Holmdel Road Work Part Of NJ Natural Gas Regulator Project