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.”