| PLUMSTED |
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TOWNSHIP |
Pride in Plumsted, the State's
Center
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Town Talk By Mayor Ron
Dancer
November 19, 2007
$6 Million From county to Save Farmland |
While
the real estate market is cooling off, Plumsted’s land preservation program is
heating up with Ocean
County designating a
record $6 million to preserve our local farmland. The Township Committee is
working closely with Ocean
County and State
Officials to add Plumsted’s two largest remaining farms into the preservation
land program to forever protect their 662 acres from future residential
development. The two farms, consisting of 402 acres and 260 acres, would bring
the total number of farms preserved in Plumsted to an all time high of 34
farms, the highest in Ocean
County and one of the
highest in the State. The two farms, totaling a combined 662 acres, are located
on Colliers Mills Road,
Route 539, Long Swamp Road
and Brindletown Road.
To date, more than 3,000 acres of farm and woodlands have been preserved to
help forever retain our rural character and, with these 662 farmland acres, Plumsted Township would be approaching the
exclusive top 10 Municipalities in the State for farm and woodland preservation
acreage.
The Township Committee is
making every effort with the farmland owners to finalize contractual
negotiations with the administrative and financial assistance of both the State
and Ocean County, who are the major financial
partners. On November 14, Ocean County Freeholder John Bartlett introduced the
planned acquisition of 260 farmland acres with a County appropriation of $6
million, located along Route 539, Colliers Mills and Long Swamp Roads to the Freeholder
Board assembled in Toms
River for the public
meeting. Our County
Freeholders accentuated
the importance of assisting the Plumsted Township Committee in our efforts to
retain the community’s rural character, as well as, the County’s water supply.
Plumsted’s farmland area is a recharge zone for the Kirkwood aquifer, the vast underground water
source that provides the Pinelands environment and public drinking water
supplies. In North Jersey, it costs taxpayers
millions of dollars to construct man-made reservoirs and dams to provide
sources of drinking water supplies, while at a fraction of the cost in Plumsted
the God-given sources of water lie beneath protected farmland.
The remaining 402 acre farm is presently being
reviewed by the State Agriculture Development Board, who would be providing the
funding to preserve and protect this farmland from future subdivisions for
houses. With the value of land today, the Grants and funding the Township
Committee obtains from Federal, State and County sources is critical for the
continued success of our land preservation program. For example, the value of
just one (1) developable acre of land in Plumsted today can exceed $200,000 and
that would deplete the annual revenue generated by the voter approved
“Recreation, Historic, Farmland, Open Space and Natural Lands”
trust fund. Additionally, the ballot question in Plumsted approved by the
voters set forth it will be used for not only land preservation, but the
“maintenance and development” of Recreation land, Historic land, Open Space and
Natural Lands as well. Portions of the maintenance and development
funding will also provide for new recreation playground equipment next year;
the gypsy moth aerial spray program on woodlands; enhanced security for our
parks and open space: improvements to the Historic Museum,
etc.
In Plumsted, agriculture is
an integral part of our local economy. In addition to the traditional tax
ratables of commercial and light industrial, our Township also has the
agricultural tax ratables of farmer’s markets and buildings. Often times, the
general public does not realize that farmers pay full taxes on their buildings
and only receive a reduced assessment on the farmland itself. Farm buildings do
not produce or house school children, yet, are yielding millions of dollars in
tax ratables. Our Land Preservation program, with more than 3,000 acres of
Plumsted’s woodland, farmland and open spaces permanently preserved, has
prevented the construction of more than 2,000 homes and saved taxpayers millions
in school taxes with the major financial support of our Ocean County Freeholder
representatives and the State’s Preservation Program.
The next regularly scheduled public meetings with the new
administration of Township Committee members Mike McCue, Eric Sorchik, Ada
Roberts, and Mayor Ron Dancer is Wednesday, December 19th at 8:00 P.M.
(There is no meeting December 5th). Public comments and participation are
encouraged at all Township Committee meetings. . Browse the Township website:
www.plumsted.org and
www.mainstreetne.org for more
information and current events.
Meet The Mayor 2007
Schedule |
As a result of the new Township Committee meeting
schedule, the dates for the monthly one-on-one personal meeting sessions with
Mayor Ron Dancer at the Library every month have also been revised. In 2007,
meet personally with the Mayor at the Library on the second (2nd) Wednesday
of each month (December 12th) from 7 to 9 p.m. to discuss Local
concerns or State issues. Residents may call the Library (758-7888) in advance
to schedule a specific time.
Can't get to the meetings or the hours scheduled at the
library. To discuss your concerns and issues personally with the mayor,
click for more information.
Contact the Mayor at State
Legislative Office |
Residents may also contact our State Legislative office at
732-901-0702 to meet or speak with Senator Bob Singer or Assemblyman Joe
Malone. Concerning Federal issues, contact Congressman Chris Smith at
732-350-2300 and for County issues contact Freeholder Director John P. Kelly at
800-722-0291.
For more information on our Township, residents are
also encouraged to visit website:
www.mainstreetsusa.com
and
the official web site of Ocean County Government:
www.oceancountygov.com.
The
New Egypt Press, our official weekly newspaper, is now on line at:
www.newegyptpress.com.
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