Two Separate Washington Twp (Morris Cty) Farmland Purchases!

From December. Here's one, and, here's another!

Jack Borgenicht, an eccentric millionaire, was known in Morris County for his philanthropic and preservation efforts.

The late local legend helped spur the success of Morris County’s fledgling preservation program 15 years ago. Now state, county and local officials think it’s a fitting tribute to purchase and preserve 228 acres of his Long Valley estate.

Five years after his death at 93, the New Jersey Conservation Foundation and its partners, including the Morris County Open Space Trust Fund, bought the property for $2.8 million. Over the years, Borgenicht amassed three Rolls-Royces, four wives, 10 children, thousands of acres and a garment-industry fortune. He also helped start the area’s first brew pub.

"By preserving Jack’s property, Morris County and its financing partners are also preserving the legacy of a remarkable man," Freeholder Jack Schrier said.

The conservation foundation, a private nonprofit organization, owns an 80 percent stake in the property and will be responsible for its management. The New Jersey Water Supply Authority owns 20 percent.
The county open-space trust contributed $1.7 million toward the purchase, the water supply authority $560,000, the Washington Township Land Trust $400,000 and the conservation foundation $80,000.
"We’re so glad that New Jersey Conservation Foundation bought it," Fran Borgenicht, Jack’s widow, said in a statement.

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Add Trinity Farm to the growing list of properties that have been preserved in Morris County.
The county’s Agriculture Development Board announced Friday that it had purchased the 23-acre parcel for $303,790, paid for by the county’s preservation trust fund.

Trinity Farm, on North Four Bridges Road in Washington Township, is an equine operation that trains and rehabilitates horses.

“It’s going to be able to sustain itself,” said Bill Roehrich, township committeeman and liaison to the development board. “That’s what made it immediately attractive.”

The Hickey family, who own and operate the farm, plan to expand their operation and include horse breeding as well, said Jennifer McCulloch, assistant director of the development board.
“We always like it when we see the landowner is the farmer,” she said.

The farm also has more than 12 acres dedicated to hay production and permanent pastures. Trinity is just east of the Borgenicht property, which was preserved earlier this month.

The Hickey family has owned the property since 2001. They retain ownership and may choose to sell, provided there is a deed restriction ensuring the land will not undergo non-farm development. Any type of agriculture development is permitted.

Trinity Farm is the 113th farm to be permanently preserved in Morris County, bringing the total area for preserved farmland in the county to 7,156 acres or 11.8 square miles, according to figures on the development board’s website. More than half of that total is in Washington Township.

“Keeping open space is one of the great things about our town,” Roehrich said. “People like that way of life.”

294 Acres Preserved in Jackson Twp.

A nice piece from November, from the land of Six Flags Great Adventure: Nearly 300 acres was preserved in Jackson Township!

TOMS RIVER – Ocean County will join with Jackson Township, the state and the non-profit Trust for Public Land in preserving almost 300 acres of land off of Route 528 and Perrineville Road in Jackson Township.

“This purchase again highlights the great work that can be done when agencies come together with one common goal – to preserve environmentally sensitive land,” said Freeholder John C. Bartlett Jr., who serves as liaison to the Ocean County Natural Lands Trust Fund Advisory Committee. “This purchase does not just help to preserve land, it helps to preserve the quality of life in Ocean County.”

The parcel is adjacent to the Colliers Mills Wildlife Management Area in addition to open space owned by Jackson Township. It is at the headwaters of the Toms River and close to an additional 167 acres of land already preserved by the county.

The land is zoned for a planned retirement community.

“With its proximity to the headwaters of the Toms River and the wildlife area, this land was a perfect complement to the county’s natural lands program,” Bartlett said. “Preserving environmentally sensitive areas comes with a number of benefits including helping to protect and preserve our waterways.”

The land purchase represents almost half of a 650-acre tract owned by Hovbilt.

“The acquisition removes almost half of that acreage and about 373 planned single-family and age-restricted units from development,” Bartlett said.

Bartlett said the purchase will be completed with the help of funding from Jackson Township, state Green Acres, a grant from the Trust for Public Land and the county’s Natural Lands Trust Fund.

The cost share breakdown is $2 million from Jackson Township, $500,000 from the state Green Acres, $250,000 from the Trust for Public Lands and $1,750,000 from Ocean County. The purchase price for the property is $4.5 million.

“I want to commend the Trust for Public Land for spearheading this project, along with Jackson Township, and the state so we can make this purchase. This partnership is allowing us to save this space and reduce the size of a proposed residential development,” Bartlett said. “The spirit of cooperation among the agencies has resulted in true benefits for the residents and the environment that will last forever.”

The Board of Chosen Freeholders has scheduled a public hearing on the land preservation during the Nov. 17 board meeting, which begins at 4 p.m. in Room 119 of the Ocean County Administration Building, 101 Hooper Ave., here.

“Our natural lands program has helped us preserve more than 12,000 acres of open space and farmland in Ocean County,” said Freeholder Director James F. Lacey. “Partnerships with municipalities and non-profit organizations helps the county in its ongoing efforts to acquire environmentally sensitive open space.”

310 Acres Getting Preserved in Tewksbury!

Here's a nice big purchase, which will create nearly 900 acres of contiguous green space:

TEWKSBURY TWP. — The township will chip in $300,000 of Green Acres money to help the New Jersey Conservation Foundation and three non-profit partners preserve 160 acres of the landmark Hill & Dale Farm here.

The foundation is coordinating a $7.2 million preservation effort to turn 160 acres on Hill and Dale Road into a nature and agriculture preserve. Another 150 acres of the farm is the subject of a state farmland preservation application.

In October, $738,000 more in private funding was needed to complete the deal. The township’s money will be in the form of a matching grant so the groups must come up with the matching amount. Since October, $230,000 has been raised, according to the foundation, including $14,270 at a dinner at the Tewksbury Inn.

The township had tentatively designated the $300,000 previously so that money does not count toward the $738,000. The Township Committee made it official with a resolution adopted on Jan. 11.

Originally a dairy farm, Hill & Dale has served as an equestrian facility in recent decades. Along with the Tewksbury Land Trust, Upper Raritan Watershed Association and Lamington Conservancy, the foundation has secured nearly $5.5 million in financial commitments and is awaiting another $1 million in pending approvals, for a total of almost $6.5 million.

The funding package consists of $2.3 million in state Green Acres grants, $2.3 million in state Natural Resource Damages funds, $1 million from Hunterdon County, $652,500 from the state Water Supply Authority and $192,000 in grants from the federal Farm and Ranchlands Preservation Program.

Preservation of Hill & Dale Farm would create an 830-acre contiguous green belt of preserved open space and farmland, extending from the township’s Hell Mountain Preserve eastward to the county’s Cold Brook Preserve off Route 517 in Oldwick.

In addition to the 310 acres to be preserved, a 13-acre parcel within the farm, containing a cottage and historic barn, will be sold privately. Several other houses and farm buildings on Hill & Dale Farm will remain in the possession of the Rothpletz family, its owners. The family has applied to sell developments rights to the 150-acre section to the State Agriculture Development Board in the form of a farmland easement.

For information about donating to create the preserve, contact Beth Davisson, project manager for the foundation, at 908-234-1225 or beth@njconservation.org.