FRANKLIN TWP. — The state Department of Environmental Protection requires permits and engineering work totaling $12,000 before the township can pull a tree out of a creek near Pittstown, Committeeman Scott Bauman told the Township Committee on Feb. 9.

The offending tree has caused a disruption in the flow of the stream and caused a drainage problem near Stone Barn Road, he said. So the township engineer met with two representatives of the DEP.

It’s a C-1 stream, Bauman said, citing the DEP’s most heavily protected category. The stream is “so protected that DEP wasn’t too keen about just going in there and pulling out the tree.”

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Given the committee’s commitment to thrift and the high price of compliance, Bauman said, “The wild side of me asks: How much are the fines for this?” If it was just $5,000, it might be worth it to “get a bunch of guys with a chain and bring it out.”

Township Attorney Michael Selvaggi advised that if the tree was removed “and you didn’t do it right, they’d fine you. And you’d still be under an administrative order to do it right and do the design and everything else.”

He further explained that even though the tree isn’t on public property, “if it alters the natural course of the water or it creates a damming effect,” it changes the aquatic environment upstream. “So that’s why you may be under an obligation to get rid of that tree.”

If the township decides to do nothing, the “DEP does have the ability to do the work and then send you a bill for it,” said Selvaggi. “Then you just negotiate the bill that way. You’d still have to pay the permit fees.”

Bauman said, “Hopefully we’ll have a place in the budget for this.”

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