Twp. eyes land purchase
near site of Opatut Park
$900,000 parcel
would join new park
to Lake Topanemus
BY MARK ROSMAN
Staff Writer

A public hearing in Freehold Township has been scheduled for the Township Committee’s April 27 meeting to consider the purchase of a 10-acre tract.

During their workshop meeting on April 13, committee members voted unanimously to introduce an ordinance that will, if adopted, allow the township to purchase the property on Robertsville Road from Ronald Levine, executor of the estate of Jean DeCicco-Levine.

According to the ordinance, the township has negotiated a purchase price of $900,000, a portion of which would be reimbursed through the New Jersey Green Acres Program.

Municipal officials said they want to purchase this parcel because it adjoins Lake Topane-mus and land at East Freehold Road and Route 79 that the township is developing as Opatut Park. Most of the 10-acre tract the township is planning to purchase will be used for open space and recreational purposes, according to the ordinance.

The act, if adopted, will allow Mayor Dorothy Avallone and the township clerk to execute a contract of sale and authorize the township attorney and other municipal officials to seek maximum reimbursement from the Green Acres Program or the state Farmland Preservation Program.

In other business, committee members approved a resolution that authorizes municipal officials to apply for a $6,000 grant from the state’s Community Forestry Council to fund a community stewardship incentive program for tree maintenance.

Township Administrator Thomas Antus said the state grant would be used to care for municipally owned trees throughout the community.

The committee agreed to match a minimum of 25 percent or $2,000 of the total project amount, in compliance with the match requirements of the agreement. All of the match will be made up of in-kind services, if allowed by the grant program requirements and the agreement, according to the resolution.

Also, committee members granted permission for Antus and his staff to examine the use of the municipal recycling center, Jackson Mills Road. A discussion among the five members of the governing body centered on the use or possible misuse of the center by people bringing items for disposal.

Committeeman David Salkin and others noted that problems at the recycling center are not being caused by residents, but by con­tractors who may be abusing the rules.

A March 3 memo prepared by Assistant Township Administrator Douglas Sanders indicated that in 2003 the recycling center recorded visits from almost 60,000 vehicles. A total of 700 tons of paper and cardboard, 125 tons of glass and aluminum cans, 1,500 used tires, 5,000 gallons of waste oil, 450 Christmas trees, 400 tons of scrap metal, 2,200 tons of bulk and 1,400 tons of brush were recycled at the center.

Sanders’ memo states that "for recyclable items, depending on the market, the township may have the opportunity to recover some of the cost associated with disposal ... we are suggesting that the cornerstone of modifications to our existing program would be a better over­sight and limitations on bulk items. They have no value and cost the township to discard ..."

The memo listed several recommended changes at the recycling center, including limiting the number of annual visits to the recycling center; limiting the number of bulk drop-offs; and considering imposing a charge for bulk items once a resident exceeds the maximum number of visits.

Avallone said the purpose of ex­amining the situation is to save money and to make things easier for the employees at the recycling center.

No decision was made on any of the recommendations mentioned in Sanders’ memo. The only action the committee members took on April 13 was to direct Antus and his staff to continue to examine the way the recycling center is used.