Roads and utilities

Closing the Cherry Valley sewage plant

The township plans to close the Cherry Valley sewage plant, turn the site into a pump station and pipe its flow 18,000 feet to the Skillman Village plant, ending its discharge into Bedens Brook. The state budget includes $600,000; the township puts the cost at $15 million.

Checked against the primary record on . Every figure on this page is sourced at the foot of the article.

State grant in budget; loan, route and schedule not public Last moved

What happens next

Watch for a Water Bank loan resolution or a bond ordinance. Cost, financing and sewer-rate questions can be raised at public comment on November 12, December 3 or December 17, 2026.

Montgomery plans to close the sewage plant that serves the Cherry Valley development and pump its wastewater through a new 18,000-foot force main to the Skillman Village plant. The township says the plant would otherwise need a costly upgrade, and that consolidation would cut operating costs and improve Bedens Brook, a stream listed as impaired.

The plan predates the 2026 grant. The township hired Kleinfelder to design, permit and finance it in December 2020 ($717,601, raised to $794,723 in 2023). A 2025 historic-site survey places the route through the Blawenburg area and Skillman Park. At the April 2026 budget introduction the project was listed at $15 million, and the presenting engineer said the township may be down to three plants “maybe by 2030 or a little after” (uncorrected captions).

Funding so far: the state’s fiscal 2027 budget includes $600,000 for the project under the Department of Community Affairs, the department the township applied to on September 3, and the district’s legislators presented funding to the Committee on October 15. A $3 million federal request is pending. The state Water Bank lists the project at about $11 million, with funding expected in 2027; no loan or bond ordinance has come before the Committee.

Not yet public: the route, the schedule, how the rest of the cost will be financed, and what it would mean for sewer rates. The plant settled a $2,000 state penalty in September 2025. The proposed Cherry Valley cell tower is on the same property; see Cherry Valley cell coverage.

The plant closure, explained

Timeline

Each dated event on this issue, oldest first, linked to the full sourced entry.

  1. Milestone Township hires Kleinfelder to design the Cherry Valley to Skillman Village sewage plant consolidationThe Township Committee awarded Kleinfelder a $717,601 professional services agreement to design, permit and find financing for consolidating the Cherry Valley and Skillman Village wastewater treatment plants, plus upgrades at Skillman Village (Res. #20-12-245). This is the earliest township record of the project found.
  2. Milestone Cherry Valley consolidation design expands to state environmental review, wetlands and historic sitesThe Committee added $77,122 to Kleinfelder's consolidation contract, bringing it to $794,723. The new work included the Level 2 Environmental Planning Report that NJDEP requires, wetlands and flood-hazard permits, a cultural resources study, and Green Acres and Somerset County Parks coordination (Res. #23-5-138).
  3. Milestone Historic-site survey ordered along the Cherry Valley force main route, citing federal Water Bank fundingThe Committee hired Richard Grubb & Associates for up to $73,161 to study a nineteenth-century archaeological site (Maplewood) and to plan how to avoid another (Fernwood, in Skillman Park) along the consolidation route. The resolution says the project "will receive federal funding" through NJDEP's Water Bank. Adopted 5-0 (Res. #25-7-231).
  4. Resolved NJDEP settles a $2,000 penalty with the township over the Cherry Valley plantFederal compliance records show a state Clean Water Act penalty settlement of $2,000 for the Cherry Valley Sewage Treatment Plant on September 26, 2025, following a state Notice of Violation on April 24, 2024. The plant has had several effluent limit exceedances since 2024 but has not been in "significant noncompliance."
  5. Pending State Water Bank list puts the Cherry Valley consolidation at an estimated $11 millionThe NJDEP and NJ Infrastructure Bank's fiscal 2027 project priority list, sent to the Legislature in January 2026, includes Montgomery's "Cherry Valley Wastewater Treatment Plant Consolidation Project" (S340130-04) at an estimated $11,000,000. NJDEP's May 2026 plan lists an estimated eligible cost of $10,656,000, with funding anticipated in 2027.
  6. Pending U.S. House member requests $3 million in federal funding for the Cherry Valley consolidationMontgomery's U.S. Representative asked the House Appropriations Committee for $3,000,000 in fiscal 2027 Community Project Funding for the Cherry Valley to Skillman Village consolidation, with the township as recipient. The outcome of the request is not known.
  7. Active Budget presentation: closing Cherry Valley would avoid a costly rebuild; $15 million, "maybe by 2030"At the 2026 budget introduction, the township listed the Cherry Valley consolidation as a $15 million "future project," "required to avoid major upgrade" of the plant. The presenting engineer said the plant is "over 30 years old," that Skillman Village has capacity "right now without an expansion" to take its flow, and that the township may be down to three plants "maybe by 2030 or a little after."
  8. Milestone State budget includes $600,000 for Montgomery's wastewater plant consolidationNew Jersey's fiscal 2027 Appropriations Act, signed June 30, 2026, includes a $600,000 line, "Township of Montgomery - Wastewater Treatment Plant Consolidation," in the Department of Community Affairs' state aid. It is the same amount the township applied to that department for in September.
  9. Milestone Township applies for a $600,000 state grant to close the Cherry Valley sewage plantOn its consent agenda, the Township Committee voted 5-0 to apply to the Department of Community Affairs for "approximately $600,000.00" to decommission the Cherry Valley plant and send its flow to Skillman Village through an 18,000-foot force main (Res. #26-9-231).
  10. Active State legislators present funding to close the Cherry Valley sewage plant and pipe its flow to Skillman VillageMontgomery's state legislators presented the Township Committee with fiscal year 2027 funding for a project to decommission the aging Cherry Valley Wastewater Treatment Plant. Its flow would go to the Skillman Village plant through a new 18,000-foot force main, ending the plant's discharge into Bedens Brook. Neither the agenda nor the meeting captions state the amount; the state budget carries $600,000 for the project.

Explainers

  • Closing the Cherry Valley Sewage Plant: What the Project Is, What It Costs, and What Is Still Open

    Montgomery plans to shut the 30-year-old sewage plant that serves the Cherry Valley development, turn the site into a pump station, and send its wastewater about 3.4 miles to the Skillman Village plant. The plan dates to at least 2020. The state budget has $600,000 for it; the township puts the whole job at $15 million, and the state Water Bank list at $11 million. There is no public schedule, route map or estimate of what it means for sewer bills.

Documents

The township's own records on this issue. Each links to the official copy.

Sources for this overview

  1. Montgomery Township 2026 budget presentation (sewer utility, Cherry Valley consolidation)
  2. FY2027 Appropriations Act, P.L.2026, c.27
  3. NJ Infrastructure Bank, SFY2027 Water Bank January report
  4. Township Committee minutes, September 3, 2026 (Res. #26-9-231)
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