Politics & Government
Oakland Officials to Submit Sewer Plan to Highlands Council
If Oakland wants new sewers, it doesn't have to conform with Highlands Council guidelines, but it may be better for the borough in the long run to compromise.
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Oakland Borough leaders and representatives of the Highlands Council and the state Department of Environmental Protection met Jan. 9 with the Northwest Bergen County Utilities Authority for a "positive" discussion on moving forward with a new plan for sewers in the town, The Record reported. A sewer plan from the borough is expected to be submitted to the Highlands Council next week.
Mayor Linda Schwager and Borough Administrator Richard Kunze led an Oakland delegation that came with master plan in hand to brainstorm ways in which the borough's plan to install new sewers in an area where conformance with the Highlands regional master plan for the preservation area is voluntary.
Borough Planner Steve Lydon told The Record that the town feels working to conform to Highlands guidelines would work in Oakland's favor as the entities work together to make new sewers happen and cope with obstacles such as transferring Oakland's ground water through the sewer system, which is located in a different drainage basin.
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