WMUA seeking council's support for improvements BY REBECCA MORTON Staff Writer MARLBORO - A planned capital improvement project at the Western Monmouth Utilities Authority (WMUA) was unveiled to members of the Township Council at their meeting on April 24. The WMUA, with administrative offices and a treatment facility off Pension Road, Manalapan, provides sewage treatment services to area municipalities. The WMUA has an executive director and a board of commissioners that includes two residents ofManalapan and two residents of Marlboro. WMUA Board of Commissioners Chairman Eric Abraham, of Manalapan, said the planned improvements are to accomplish three objectives - to improve operations, to improve the safety of the authority's employees and to improve energy efficiency. The estimated cost of all the projects to be completed is $7,321,868, according to a presentation given by engineer Kevin Toolan. Proposed improvements are included in the headworks area, reed beds, pressure filters, aeration system, digester covers and the main control system, Toolan said. "All of this is needed," Toolan said, explaining that some of the equipment is more than 20 years old. Toolan's comment was made in response to Mayor Jonathan Hornik's question about whether the improvements are things the WMUAcommissioners want or what the authority needs. WMUACommissioner Steve Toubin, of Manalapan, said the authority has the opportunity to receive an interest free federal loan and a state loan at market rate in order to undertake the improvements. When asked by the council members if the planned improvements would impact a WMUA customer's bill, the answer was that there is not expected to be any impact on the bills. "It is our intention not to ask the customers to pay for this," Toubin said. Abraham said the presentation had already been given in Manalapan and reported that the Manalapan Township Committee is expected to pass a resolution on the matter in the near future. He asked the Marlboro officials to prepare a resolution in support of the authority's planned improvements. In related news that evening, resident Jeff Rosen was appointed as a Marlboro commissioner to the WMUA. Rosen will fill an unexpired term on the board of commissioners. After conducting public interviews with Rosen and Peter Napoli for the commissioner's position, the council members appointed Rosen. Marlboro's other WMUA commissioner is Jeff Hymowitz.