OPEN SPACE BALLOT QUESTION FLYERS:
We sent out 1693 flyers, pre-sorted by zip code, to Central Group members.
PARKS COMMISSION MEETINGS:
Laura spoke with Lisa Fritzinger of the Mercer County Planning Board (which is working with the Mercer County Parks Commission on the Pole Farm master plan). The County has put out a Request for Proposals, which is a call for bids on constructing a master plan (although we were told previously that the Pole Farm didn't need a master plan).
When a firm is chosen to create a proposal, the ideas submitted so far, such as the Heroes park and the CJSC/WCAS Vision Statement, will be looked at. Public hearings will be part of the planning process.
The Lawrence-Hopewell bike trail will also become part of the master plan process; plans for the trail are on already-paved areas of the Pole Farm.
The County doesn't want to clear any land for construction.
BRAGHELLI TRACT:
Ames Hoyt is working to preserve this 85-acre tract in Hamilton, directly adjacent to Veteran's Park. There are intermediate value wetlands, isolated wetlands, and several vernal pools. The parcel is now a farm. There are 17 houses within easy walking distance from the park. 276 homes will be built nearby, as will be offices and other housing developments. Much of Veterans Park is natural; a lot of it is ballfields and other recreation.
The farm's owner has been trenching the wetlands. The Township took pictures, the DEP found out, and the DEP determined there was no significant impact to the wetlands. But a swamp was trenched; there might not be an effect yet, but there could be later. It appears that the farmer is trying to make a wet area look dry.
2/3 of the property drains into Pond Run, which drains into the Assunpink.
The value of the land is $80 million, and by draining the wetlands, more looks dry, which keeps the value up.
Ames has 400-500 pictures of the site. There are aquatic plants (not wetland plants – aquatic plants!) in the farm fields!
2100 signatures have been collected on a petition to preserve the tract, and the Township has passed a resolution stating that Mercer County should buy the land (it's on the County's list).
We offered to call the Soil Conservation Service on his behalf. Ames will give Laura the lot and block numbers, and any other relevant information.
KLOCKNER ROAD WOODS:
Rocky gave an overview of Klockner Road Woods (Ames brought a laminated township open space map). More details on the woods: 5 owners; 50 acres owned by Fieldstone Associates; 90 acres total.
Funds for the purchase will come from the Environmental Infrastructure Trust, a state program.
A man-made stream, Burnt Swamp Ditch, runs through the property and into Miry Run, so the EIT funds were available because saving the woods helps save the Miry Run and Assunpink Creeks. Hamilton hopes to close on the property by the end of this year or early next year. The appraisal is still pending.
SHOP-RITE:
30 acres of woods adjacent from the Klockner Road woods aren't on Hamilton's open space preservation list. Shop-Rite plans to build a store there, despite the fact that another Shop-Rite recently closed down the road in a strip mall. The neighbors don't want the store there. Rocky is working toward getting Hamilton to give Shop-Rite incentive to open in the abandoned strip mall area (where there are vacant, adjacent buildings).
We suggested that the Township might want to look into finding out if the strip mall can be considered blighted (and in doing so, get funding for redevelopment). The area is low-income.
Rocky called the COO of Craymont Realty, who owns Suburban Plaza (the empty strip mall); the response was that Craymont would work with Rocky to bring the store to the mall.
In light of all the open space issues in Hamilton, and because Hamilton has no dedicated open space tax, we discussed working on getting Hamilton to agree to an open space tax referendum.
We are working on a meeting with Richard Barrett, Mary Penney, Laura, and Ed, to go over how to approach Bill Potter about paying the remainder of the bill. Once we figure out what to say, we'll meet with Bill Potter. The fundraiser money will pay for the rest of the bill.
