BRIELLE, NJ – At the recent Brielle council meeting, the discussion on water and sewer fees, first raised on February 24th, took center stage again. Both fees saw sizable increases for 2025, largely due to aging infrastructure that hasn’t been upgraded in decades. The town is working to address these infrastructure gaps and must raise rates and take on debt to do so. The topic of water and sewer infrastructure challenges, i.e. costs, is being heard across many of the surrounding towns.
Business Administrator Tom Nolan explained: “We are trying to promote conservation while increasing the revenue stream, as we are carrying the debt service on two water tanks and a major water project on Union Lane. We are also in the process of replacing all water meters, which adds to the debt service. Additionally, we've already incurred nearly $60,000 in emergency repairs for water main leaks. We are actively seeking state grants and loans to begin addressing water main replacements throughout the borough. As we saw last summer, we had to put in water restrictions as we exceeded our diversion right's (consumption)."
With frequent notices about water main breaks appearing on the borough’s website, the council recently approved a bond ordinance for the purchase of new water meters.
Sign Up for FREE Gold Coast Newsletter
Get local news you can trust in your inbox.
The notices sent out and put up on the website seem like there are water main breaks each day, due to aging infrastructure. The Council recently passed a resolution to approve a bond ordinance for the purchase of water meters.
In, summary, the one-time connection fees doubled from $1,000 to $2,000. The prior sewer rates were an annual minimum of $296 or $74 per quarter, and have increased 35% to $400 annually, payable $100 per quarter. Sewer usage is measured by water usage. The town used to permit 38,000 gallons for a minimum and charged $1.50 per 1,000 gallons above the minimum. We've reduced the minimum 40% from 38,000 to 20,000 gallons, and then charge $1.50 per 1,000 gallonsabove the minimum. Now the rate moves up to $2.00 per 1,000 up to 30,000 gallons. Over 30,000, the fee moves up to $2.50 per 1,000 gallons. According to Nolan, basically, we are increasing the amount of the annual fee for the sewer, but we have changed the amount of gallonage allowed so that the more that they use, they can pay accordingly.
Additionally, the annual minimum sewer and excess flow charge will automatically increase by 3% annually or by the rate of inflation, whichever is higher.
At the February meeting, Brielle resident Dan Burke pointed out a number of flaws in the water and sewer ordinance, which had been pulled earlier in the meeting due to a mistake in the sewer rates. This required the council to pull the ordinance until the March 10th meeting for a vote. In Burke's view at the time, the flaw in the rates allowed a multi-family development to have one connection ($3,000 new rate) to the system and therefore pay only one connection fee. However, the revised ordinance did not address the multi-family connection fee cost. Burke went on to say, “it should be on a per residential unit basis. I don't believe the residents of Brielle should be subsidizing your multi-family, commercial, your restaurants and all the other units. This tiered break-out is common. There isn't a public water utility in the area that I know of that doesn't charge for it based on the type of facility or fire services. Put the costs where they belong so that the residents aren't subsidizing those larger users."
The Mayor and Council agreed to review the tiered approach, which could be amended at some time if the council agreed to change it.
These changes mark a significant shift in how Brielle funds its water and sewer services, aiming for long-term infrastructure improvements while encouraging conservation.
Stay Connected with Local News That Matters! Never miss a story! Sign up for the TAPinto Gold Coast e-newsletter and get the latest local sports, community updates, and breaking news delivered straight to your inbox.
FREE & HyperlocalExclusive News & UpdatesDelivered Right to You
Sign up now at TAPinto.net/enews and select "Gold Coast" under towns!