Committee Amendment Incorporates Land Bill Funds

The Township Committee authorized an amendment to its Planning Incentive Grant  accepting the $675,000 increase in Open Space funding Gov. Chris Christie approved in August.

The funding came through a trio of bills, S2859, S2858 and S2857. According to the bill text, S2859 appropriates $45 million from the state’s 2009 Green Acres fund and $12 million from the 2009 Blue Acres fund for state acquisition of land. The bill would require the land to be used for conservation and recreation purposes.

Bill S2858 appropriates $14 million from the 2009 Green Acres Fund and the Garden State Green Acres Preservation Trust Fund for grants to non-profit entities. The entities would be required to use the funds to acquire or develop the lands for recreation and conservation purposes.

Bill S2897 appropriates $23,588,760 from 2009 Farmland Preservation Fund and the Garden State Farmland Preservation Trust Fund to the State Agricultural Development Committee for farmland preservation, according to the bill text.

In Hillsborough, the money will be used to preserve a 200-acre portion of farmland behind the Department of Public Works Garage and Mill Lane. The property is adjacent to the already-preserved Doyle’s Farm, where the bill signing took place.

As part of the Green Acres agreement, the state and township will each provide $3,125,000 toward land preservation. The previous grant amount was $2,450,000.

While the township intends to preserve the property, appraisals on it resulted in two different values, meaning the township will need to consult its attorney before continuing the preservation, Township Administrator Mike Merdinger said. The Green Acres approval process requires multiple property appraisals and state approval before the township can receive state funds.

The township has 10,571 acres of preserved property, which is about 30 percent of the township’s area. The preserved land includes 4,126 acres in the Sourland Mountains, 1,000 acres along rivers and tributaries and the 2,223 acre Duke Estate.