NJ American Water Company replaces water pipes on Delaware Ave. Jan. 2022. Paul Goldfinger photo. Blogfinger.net
By Jack Bredin and Paul Goldfinger. Blogfinger.net. Ocean Grove 2/12/23.
Jack Bredin has lived here for over 20 years. He and Jean have a duplex on “What the Heck Avenue.” He’s like most of us who get those quarterly billing cards from the OGSA, but our interest elevates sharply when the “Annual Service Charge” shows up and averages about $150.00 per year. At that point, some of you might wonder what the OGSA does with that money.
The Ocean Grove Sewerage Authority provides services to 2,200 customers in the Grove and they are responsible for the sewage functions here. The OGSA is run by a Governing Board consisting of 5 “Members.” Each serves a term of 5 years. Some call them Commissioners.
They are responsible for the sewer mains, pipes which carry sewage out to the streets. The Authority is supposed to “protect the environment” and they are accountable to the NJ Department of Community Affairs and the NJ DEP.
This is from their web site: “The Authority is responsible for maintaining the sewerage main. The sewerage main is the Authority’s owned piping and appurtenances, in or along public highways and streets, or along privately owned rights of way use for the transmission or for the collection of domestic sewage or industrial waste from its customers.” Really?
The OGSA Commissioners make sure that waste water is collected and then treated at special facilities. If sewer pipes must be replaced, they obtain funds from grants.
These waste water pipes are separate from the clean water pipes and “Ain’t Cha Glad?”
JACK TEAGARDEN:
The 2021 OG Sewerage Authority Board Members are listed below: Are they all from Ocean Grove? Or have they been appointed as a favor from a Neptune connection?
Joel Popkin, Chairman
Barbara Burns, Vice Chairman
Denise Liguori, Treasurer
Richard Freundlich, Secretary
Wendel Thomas, Assistant Secretary
It’s not clear as to why Neptune decided to establish a separate Authority for Ocean Grove.
Jack has been concerned about our bills, how they are determined, how to justify the amounts, and what happens to the money. Most of us know very little about these topics.
One subject which isn’t mentioned at their web site is how much salary do the Governing Board members receive. You would think that they are volunteers, but are they? How do they get chosen, and how’s oversight provided? I have heard that those jobs are considered to be desirable. It’s probably the money.
On Feb 11, 2021, an Asbury Park Press article reported about the Neptune Sewer Board members receiving yearly pay of $2000-$5,500. At that time Barbara Burns who serves on the Ocean Grove Sewerage Authority, said, “Sewerage authority commissioners shouldn’t receive a salary at all. She said the technical work is done by the sewerage authority employees, and the commissioners have a “light lift,” meeting once a month for about an hour.” But there was no mention of Ocean Grove. in that piece.
Here is a link to that article:
The quarterly and annual OGSA bills reveal how many gallons of water are processed from each customer. The Authority receives a report from the American Water Co. and that report tells how many gallons of water each customer receives, but there is no measure of dirty gallons which go back to the street. The Authority has no meter.
The assumption is that the gallons charged by the OGSA equals the amount billed to each customer by the water company for incoming clean water.
Jack began his inquiry by submitting an OPRA request (Open Public Records Act) for each of his two addresses. This is what his OPRA. request asks for:
It was important for Jack to receive his answers in gallons of waste water. His bill is according to “total usage” but there is no breakdown regarding that “total usage”
He received a response regarding the OPRA requests. from the Township Clerk who said that Jack’s request was forwarded to the OGSA.
The OGSA response is from Judy Benedict of the OGSA. See below:
OGSA reponse to Jack’s OPRA request. This taken from the cover letter by the Neptune Clerk 2/6/23.
You will see that the OGSA did not provide answers to Jack’s request asking for the gallons out the OGSA pipes because they “do not monitor outflow.” The OGSA suggested that Jack could find these numbers by referring to his NJ American Water Bills.
Note that if you wish more information you can go to to their website: www.oceangrovesanj.org
This is from that site:
“The Authority is responsible for maintaining the sewerage main. The sewerage main is the Authority’s owned piping and appurtenances, in or along public highways and streets, or along privately owned rights of way use for the transmission or for the collection of domestic sewage or industrial waste from its customers.
Lab services, such as water testing, are provided quarterly by an outside consultant.
If you don’t pay your sewage bills, a lien can be placed on your home and then sold.
Whether you have wondered about these issues or not, you do receive the OGSA bills, so you ought to pay attention.
Jack Bredin is determined to find answers, so we hope that we will hear from him again soon. If so we will post an addendum to this article.
Also there is a historical angle here. After OG was founded the sewage was pumped into the ocean. It’s good that they didn’t have coliform testing back then. Their Embury Ave. pier (currently undergoing construction) was built to maintain the security of those outgoing pipes. After Stokes came up with a better solution, the pier became the OG Fishing Pier and the waste water was processed in a more admirable way.
I have been involved with Politics for over 60 years.
This is the most ridiculous political statement by the OGSA that I ever read.
If you take the advice of the OGSA, and go to the police to turn yourself in for violating a law that does not exist, you will find yourself in a padded cell.
What a Bunch of Dopes !
Jack Bredin offers “Ocean Grove Sewerage Authority General Information.” (dated 2/11/23 and obtained from the OGSA web site)
1. If you are having a problem with sewage backup your first call should be to Public Works (DPW.). Public Works will check to see if there is a problem with our main. If a problem occurs after hours or on weekends, the message at Public Works directs you to call the Police, and report the backup.
2.ILLEGAL HOOKUP: It is illegal to hook up a sump pump, cellar drain, down spout, driveway drain, swimming pool, ornament ponds or any other “in flow” intrusion to the sanitary sewer system; all clean water piped out must go into the street or the storm water sewer.
In the event a resident does have an illegal hook up, there is a mandatory assessment, which is in excess of $1,000. The OGSA does have the right to request a plumbing official inspect a residence suspected of an illegal hookup.
3. We (OGSA) pay the Township of Neptune Sewerage Authority approximately half our budget to process the sewage flow from Ocean Grove.
Usage is billed by the American Water company.
4. PIPE REPLACEMENT PROJECT: In 1988 we cleaned and televised the entire Sanitary Sewer System in Ocean Grove. It was determined that 70% of OG sanitary sewer pipes were in need of replacement. To date, over 50% of our system has been replaced. To fund Phases we try to obtain County grant money.
If you are confused, that is the intent of the Ocean Grove Sewer Authority and the Neptune Township Committee.
The sewer system was a project of the Association (CMA) and I assume they paid for it. The installation began in 1880 and took several years. An 1887 ordinance required one had to get permission to connect with the sewer and a $10 fee was imposed for this.
Presumably, the lot holders had to pay for the plumbing connection. Annual sewer rates started at $3 (about $90 today) and increased with size of the structure.
The street pavements in OG tend to be porous and drainage not considered a problem. When concrete was installed on Main Ave. (1929) and Ocean Ave. (1931), the shoulders were loose gravel. The present impervious street pavement was installed over the course of a number of years until perhaps 1950. The grass islands on Broadway seem to date from 1909. In 1913, a drainage problem was addressed.
“Under instructions from T. J. Preston, chairman of the Association’s electric light and water committee, workmen are installing at the corner of Broadway and Beach avenues, a new and larger sluiceway for carrying off surface water. In the past after every heavy rain fall this particular corner has suffered, a veritable flood, the water sometimes rising so high as to overflow into adjacent cellars.”
Thanks Dave.
Do you know when the waste water pipes were installed beneath the OG roads and connected to our homes for indoor plumbing ? Was it 1880? And who paid for that piping, and who owns those pipes now?
Regarding sewers for our roads, the streets near our house in OG have no sewers to collect groundwater. Yet some streets such as Broadway have sewers. How did they decided which parts of town would have road sewers? We always get flooding after heavy rains , although not as bad as the south end has had.
So, now the OGSA sends its indoor waste water to the Neptune facility using pumps. So, I wonder if the OGSA pays Neptune for that service. They should not because OG homeowners already pay a sewage fee in our Neptune taxes; and we are part of Neptune Twp even if they carved out a separate sewer authority for the Grove. Is this a plot to double tax the Grove?
Who knows the details of deals made between Neptune and OG after the NJ Supreme Court allowed OG to be governed by Neptune in 1980? After all, some blue laws did remain, and much of CMA properties were made exempt from town taxes.
So what exactly does the OGSA pay for with our fees? We might have to approach the new Neptune business manager about these issues. Paul–Blogfinger.net 2/13/23.
From the Neptune Township Sewerage Authority website, it appears that OG uses its treatment plant.
“Currently all sewage from the Borough of Tinton Falls, the western portion of Neptune Township and Wall Township flow to the Authority’s force main by gravity. Avon by the Sea, Bradley Beach, Neptune City, Ocean Grove and a portion of Neptune Township pump their sewage to the Authority through a pump station. The Authority currently operates two inlet facilities and three parallel treatment trains (process units in series) which provide the ability to distribute the flow of sewage for the most efficient treatment.”
Originally, people in OG allowed outhouse effluent to drain into the ground. This quickly contaminated the shallow wells for drinking water creating “a constant prevalence of diarrhea in the community.” The publication of this quickly led the Association to require watertight chambers under outhouses. These were emptied in the winter. The summer odors prompted people to demand sewers. In 1880, the sewer system was begun in OG. This drained to a chamber that was emptied into the ocean at night.
In 1908, NJ required septic tanks to capture solids. A concrete one with multiple chambers was built underground at Embury near the present changing rooms. A chlorination system was added in 1930 and replaced in 1940. Eventually, the sewers were connected to the treatment plant.
David. Does the OGSA have its own wastewater facility now or does it still farm out our waste water to Neptune?
Also, since Neptune includes in our homeowners tax bill a charge for sewage, is this a double charge. (Neptune taxes and OGSA fees quarterly and yearly?). Thanks, Paul
Here is a bit of history from various Neptune Township websites:
It was determined by the Township that the operation and maintenance of the Ocean Grove sewers could be preserved and adequate revenues more readily assured by the establishment of a separate sewerage district. This resulted in the creation of the Ocean Grove Sewerage District on 20 August 1984.
The Neptune Authority owned and operated a wastewater treatment facility including an ocean outfall line, a pumping station, a force main and a trunk line. The Neptune sewerage Authority facility treats wastewater from seven customer municipalities: Boroughs of Avon-by-the-Sea, Bradley Beach, Neptune City, Tinton Falls and Townships of Neptune and Wall and Ocean Grove Sewer Authority.
The original plant was constructed in 1963 and served only Neptune Township. In 1979 the plant expanded to its current size 8.5 million gallons per day.
On June 20, 1994, the governing body of the Township adopted an ordinance creating a sewerage authority under the name of the Ocean Grove Sewerage Authority to undertake the responsibilities and obligations of the Ocean Grove Sewerage District. It was determined at the time that 70% of Ocean Grove sanitary sewer pipes were in need of replacing. A schedule was established starting with those streets in the most need.
Was Bernie Madoff the consultant that drafted this scam to separate the good residents of OG from their hard earned money?
There are NO Ocean Grove Sewer Authority pipes in OG as they claim. The pipes belong to Neptune Township and not the OG Sewer Authority’s.
The Township Liaison to the OG Sewer Authority should resign.
And the OGSA should be investigated.
Much more to come.
I just paid $196.00 annual service charge for a one bedroom condo at the Embury Arms Condo on Whitfield Ave. there are over 100 condos there. I understand that they also bill the Embury Arms for Sewerage service. I understand that the condo board hired a lawyer several years ago to stop the double billing; however they lost the case.