Miller Avenue sewer and the sewer utility

Branchburg runs a municipal sewer utility that sends its flow to the Somerset Raritan Valley Sewerage Authority (SRVSA). A sewer extension in the Miller Avenue area, a rate increase and pump-station work are its current business.

The Miller Avenue polling. The Township Engineer’s July 16, 2025 letter to residents of the Miller Avenue area (Miller Avenue, Central Place and part of Station Road) set out four sub-drainage areas and preliminary costs, and called a meeting for Aug. 14, 2025:

Area	Preliminary cost	Homes that could connect	Per home, all connect	Homes interested	Per home, interested only
A-Green	$183,600	5	$36,720	5	$36,720
B-Orange	$307,350	6	$51,225	3	$102,450
C-Blue	$1,275,525	16	$79,720	8	$159,440
D-Red	$140,400	2	$70,200	1	$140,400

The map revised August 2025, “Possible Sanitary Sewer Extension Miller Ave., Station Road and Central Place,” marks interest as Section A 5 of 5 homes, B 2 of 6, C 8 of 18 and D 0 of 2.

The decision. The Township Administrator’s Sept. 19, 2025 letter, summarizing the Aug. 14 meeting, says only the A-Green area (five homes, with two adjacent homes possibly included) is a cost-effective project, to be paid by an “assessment,” which applies when 70% or more of an area’s residents want sewer and which the letter put “in the range of $30,000 to $35,000,” usually paid over ten years; connection would not be mandatory unless a septic system fails. It says the C-Blue project’s cost is “unreasonable for the public or Township to fund” and the Township will not proceed there, and that the Township “intends to move forward” with design for A-Green. Miller Avenue will be repaved with driveway aprons and culvert restorations at no cost to its residents, with no widening, curbing, sidewalks or water main; no road work is proposed on Central Place or Station Road.

Since then. The bill list approved March 9, 2026 carries $11,440.00 to Schwanewede Hals & Vince for “Survey Miller Avenue” (purchase order of Oct. 22, 2025). The addendum bill list approved Oct. 12, 2026 carries a $200.00 check to SRVSA, dated Oct. 8, 2026, for “Miller Ave TWA App Fee.”

Sewer rates. Ordinance 2025-1503, introduced Nov. 10 and adopted at the November 24, 2025 Committee meeting, 5–0 with no public comment, raised annual sewer charges from $1.40 to $1.50 per gallon per day of projected flow for unmetered properties, from $5.38 to $5.85 per 1,000 gallons for metered ones, and minimums from $399 to $450. Mr. Bonin said it adds $50 a year for the average home on public sewer; Finance Director Diane Schubach said the Township “has had a difficult time keeping up with the increases” from SRVSA. The same night the Committee hired Mott MacDonald for a “Meter Chamber 12B hydraulic model sanitary sewer collection system capacity evaluation” (Res. 2025-214, 5–0).

Neshanic pump station. Mr. Bonin said June 8, 2026 that the Township was upgrading the Neshanic Pump Station. On Sept. 14, 2026 the Committee amended Mott MacDonald’s contract for construction-phase engineering oversight of the upgrade (Res. 2026-158, 5–0 consent). The 2025 audit lists Neshanic Pump Flood Mitigation at $3,000,000 authorized and uncompleted (ordinance 2021-1418). The Committee also awarded a pump-station repair and maintenance contract to Rapid Pump & Meter Service Co. on Aug. 10, 2026 (Res. 2026-152).

The utility’s books. The 2025 audit (dated Aug. 3, 2026) reports use-charge revenue of $3,374,484.41, capacity charges of $321,466.67, total revenues and other income of $7,849,602.06 and $2,606,000 of fund balance used; appropriations of $4,706,000 operating, $600,000 capital and $550,000 deferred/statutory; and an operating fund balance of $4,249,338.76 at Dec. 31, 2025, down from $4,861,736.70. The balance sheet lists $5,200,000 in sewer capital serial bonds payable; the 2026 User Friendly Budget separately reports $2,100,000 gross utility debt against an equal deduction, for $0 net utility debt on that table — different schedules the record does not reconcile.

What residents can do. Read the July letter, the revised plan and the September letter in the Township’s Document Center; call the Township Engineer’s office (908-526-1300 ext. 142) with questions, as the letters invite; and speak at Township Committee meetings (second and fourth Mondays, 7 p.m., Municipal Building courtroom).