Sussex County Commissioners Approves Diamond Chip's Water Amendment Request in Split Vote

NEWTON, NJ – More than twenty people left the room following the Sussex County Commissioners approval of Diamond Chip Realty’s request for an amendment to the Sussex County Water Quality Management Plan.

Sparta residents and others expressed disbelief that Commissioner Director Jill Space, Deputy Director Chris Carney and Commissioner Earl Schick voted yes despite hearing about a number of flaws in their resolution.

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Speaking as a resident, not in his official capacity, Sparta Mayor Neill Clark asked Commissioner Deputy Director Chris Carney to recuse himself because of an “indirect pecuniary” conflict; the Operating Engineers Local 825, Carney's employer, made posts to Facebook supporting DCR's project in Sparta.

“Unfortunately, in Sparta we have had to deal with this situation where Sparta residents who simply followed a Facebook page, where that Facebook page expressed their opposition to the warehouse, that was sufficient to get them disqualified, [from the planning board],” Clark said. “They weren’t employed by Sparta Responsible Development. They weren’t employed by the Highlands Coalition. And here we have a more direct interest.”

He asked them to “do the right thing” and not commit “an unforced error,” pointing out they still had enough votes to have a majority.

“Ensure to the public the process is fair and don’t give the impression that the fix is in,” Clark said.

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The attorney for the board of commissioners, Doug Steinhardt said Carney “is not an employee of 825. He may occasionally be a subcontractor there. He’s not an employee. He does not draw a paycheck from them.” Carney interrupted Steinhart.

“I technically work for 825,” Carney said. “We’re always a union shop but we are on non-union jobs.”

Carney indicated on his annual Local Government Ethics Law Financial Disclosure form he is employed by Mountain View Layout. On the “employment” tab of that company’s website it states “You must be a member of the Union of Operating Engineers Local 825 to work with us at Mountain View Layout.”

The Facebook promotions of Diamond Chip Realty’s Sparta Warehouse project with photos of the proposed buildings and a video were not enough for Steinhardt to see a conflict. Sparta residents who looked at a Facebook page were, however, conflicted enough to get them r emoved from their appointed positions.

“No one has been able to produce for me, other than support statements from 825, for a project that I haven’t seen that they have any interest in other than they hope it gets built,” Steinhardt said. “Some of the various work gets done by union or non-union.”

He said the "Operating Engineers do not have a stake in this warehouse," and neither did they "already have a project labor agreement or subcontract agreement."

“Any conflict is purely speculative. It’s a question of personal opinions versus personal interests and that’s what people up here get elected to do.  I don’t see anything that creates legal conflict. That’s my personal opinion. Obviously, Mr. Carney can do whatever he wants,” Steinhardt said.

Carney decided to vote.

Robert McBriar, attorney for the Sussex County Water Quality Policy Advisory Committee or PAC told the commissioners the PAC consists of 19 members from each municipality overseen by the county’s Division of Planning and Economic Development.

He said the PAC has “ satisfied their charge in completing the multistep process that was approved by New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection" referring to the Sussex County Water Quality Plan Amendment Procedure approved in 2014.

Following that, he recommended the approval of the "site-specific amendment." He said SCMUA has also recommended its approval and the New Jersey Highlands Council has issued a letter of consent.

None of these boards have considered the question of how DCR can move from 200 employees requiring 10,000 gallons of wastewater flow each day to 555 employees still requiring the same amount – 10,000 gpd.

There are no documents from any of these boards questioning DCR’s change in the statute they used to make their calculations.  From DCR's application documents in 2021 and 2022, DCR indicates NJAC 7:14 as the statute under which they are applying.  Only in the latest document filed in 2023 with NJ DEP has DCR changed to use NJAC 7:9, typically used for residential septic systems of 2000 gallons or less.

In an OPRA request made by TAPinto Sparta, NJ DEP has said they do not have any documentation discussing the change of statute for DCR’s application.

“Very importantly, you must note that NJ DEP itself issued a determination that the proposed amendment is indeed compliant with the applicable regulatory criteria set forth in NJCA 7:15," McBriar said referring to the process of seeking approval. No approval has been issued by the NJ DEP for the DCR amendment request.

He explained, if the commissioners approved their resolution, it would be part of the package of "documents, materials and public comments" to be reviewed by the NJ DEP.

“From my perspective, the PAC has satisfied its charge,” McBriar said.

“I just didn’t feel we were ready to vote without a statement from you,” Space said.

She explained, “There’s a process in place when adopting an amendment to the county’s water quality management plan.”

Space said the vote was on the process not on the merits.

However, the SCWQMP amendment process approved in 2014 requires a resolution from the municipality supporting the amendment. In February 2023, Sparta did not give support for the amendment.

Space said “This is a vote on the process. It still has to go through DEP and it still has to go through Sparta.”

Commissioners Bill Hayden and Jack DeGroot voted no. Space, Carney and Schick voted yes.

DeGroot laid out a thoughtful analysis of the Sussex County Strategic Growth Plan, questioning the DCR resolution supporting that plan, under a section called “water supply.”

Hayden said, “Chris Carney should not have voted. His ties to the union negate his vote.”

Following the meeting, several people discussed filing ethics charges against Carney for his vote.

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