County to Auction Farms, Unveil Transportation Study

County to auction four farms 
Freeholders authorized the auction of four county-owned farms totaling 749 acres in Springfield, Shamong and Hainesport townships.

The county acquired these properties outright, and is now selling them as preserved farms with easements that restrict development.

“The revenue from the auction sales will be plowed back into the program, and be used to preserve other farms,” said Freeholder Director Frank Garganio. “By transferring this farmland back into private ownership, the county is helping to sustain agriculture, while minimizing the county’s management expense and taxpayer cost.”

Under most farmland preservation transaction, the county purchases easements, and the original owner retains the property.

“However,” said Garganio, “there are times when freeholders must acquire title to the property outright if we want to see the property preserved.”

The sale conditions include permanent deed restrictions to ensure the property remains in agriculture. Each property includes an existing residential and will have a two- or three-acre exception area to give the purchase opportunity for flexibility in future use.

The county will auction the farms following public notice, and a report outlining conditions will be made available to the public.

The properties include the BF&W crop farm on Route 206 in Springfield, to be sold in two parcels, a 219-acre North Tract and a 131-acre South Tract. This farm is surrounded by other county-preserved farms and is across from the new county fairgrounds on Route 206.

The Aristone farm on Route 206 in Shamong is a 172-acre equine farm that also will be sold at the auction. This is the first farm ever preserved in Shamong.

The county is also offering the 140-acre Ziegler/Walder crop farm on Juliustown Road in Springfield. This property was acquired in 2006, and is adjacent to other farmland in the township.

Finally, the Hainesport LLC Farm on Hainesport-Mount Laurel Road, an 87-acre crop farm, will also be sold.

Joint base transportation study recommendations to be unveiled May 10
A study aimed at addressing transportation issues in and around Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst is rapidly coming to a conclusion and will recommend some changes in the road network which should benefit the public-at-large.

That was the message delivered to the freeholders by Lee Klein, project manager with T&M Associates, a consulting firm from Middletown.

Klein did not spell out recommendations and solutions—those will be unveiled at a Public Information Session from 6 to 8 p.m. on May 10, at Plumsted Township Municipal Building in Ocean County—but he did identify the issues.

Probably the biggest mobility issue is Texas Avenue. This roadway cuts through the center of the military complex, but for security reasons, it was closed at the borders of the base in the wake of 9/11.

The study, initiated in July of 2008 with a Department of Defense Planning Grant, has been a collaborative effort between the military, and towns in Burlington and Ocean Counties that border the Joint Base.

Six Burlington County municipalities have been involved, including New Hanover, North Hanover, Pemberton Borough, Pemberton Township, Springfield and Wrightstown. Four Ocean County towns are participating, including Lakehurst Borough, Manchester, Jackson and Plumsted.

One product of the study has been a comprehensive communications manual, to facilitate cooperation between the towns and the base. 

Another key element currently underway is a regional sewerage study, intended to address development and redevelopment issues in New Hanover, North Hanover and Plumsted.