HOWELL – A Howell Township resident has filed litigation against Planning Board member Robert Nicastro stating his dual appointments were unlawful.
On January 21, resident Steven Morlino filed a complaint in Superior Court citing how Nicastro’s dual appointments to both the Planning Board and the Manasquan River Regional Sewerage Authority were unlawful.
In the legal documents Morlino submitted, he discussed how his wife, Karen Morlino was once in the same spot as Nicastro. In 2001, Morlino’s wife was appointed to both the Howell Township Planning Board and the Manasquan River Regional Sewerage Authority (MRRSA). During that time, a dispute over these appointments arose due to the “statutory and common law that an individual could not serve simultaneously as a municipal officer on the MRRSA and as a Class IV citizen member on the Planning Board.”
Planning Board Attorney Ronald Cucchiaro told Morlino’s wife her appointments were conflicting and unlawful, which resulted in her resigning from the Planning Board.
Nicastro was appointed to the Howell Planning Board in 2019, and then was appointed to the MRRSA in 2020 again in 2021.
Morlino states that allegedly, a resident notified Township Attorney Joe Clark that Nicastro’s dual appointments were illegal and nothing was done to resolve the conflict such as asking Nicastro to resign from one of the boards just like Morlino’s wife had to in 2001.
“I am personally familiar with the circumstances surrounding that dispute and the controversy over whether the dual appointment created a conflict of interest, the evaluation of the conflict and Karen Morlino’s ultimate decision to resign from the Planning Board. Karen Morlino conferred with me personally regarding those issues at the time,” Steven Morlino said.
“This person (Nicastro) can vote on major developments and may actually jeopardize the applications’ validity,” Morlino added.
After reaching out to Township Attorney Clark regarding the situation, Clark did not comment on the litigation. Nicastro did not respond for comment at the time of publication. However, the Township council agenda for the February 1 meeting showed that Nicastro recently resigned from the MRRSA.
