Towns Seek Open Space Grant Funds For Public Projects

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By Joseph Sapia
Twenty-three municipalities are competing for funds through the 2016 Monmouth County Municipal Open Space Grant Program.
The money can be used in a variety of ways, including land purchase, development of the land for active or passive recreation, or rehabilitating buildings and playgrounds.
Not every town will be successful. The towns have put forward $4.2 million total in requests, but there is only $2 million in the Open Space Trust Fund to be divvied up.
The county Park System is reviewing the applications, and by late October it will offers its recommendations to the county freeholders on which they should fund.
“We do our best to vet everything,” said Paul Gleitz, a principal park planner for the county Park System. “A lot of these projects aren’t big and flashy, but they’re community needs,” he said.
In the Two River Times area, Colts Neck, Fair Haven, Highlands, Middletown, Oceanport, Red Bank, Rumson and Sea Bright submitted applications by the Sept. 14 deadline.
Under the process, municipalities generally can apply for up to 50 percent of the project’s hard costs, maxing out at $250,000 in grant money from the county. In the state designated urban-aid towns of Asbury Park, Neptune, Neptune City and Long Branch, the percentage is 75 percent. Hard costs do not include such items as surveying and engineering.
The freeholders grant the money from funds collected through the county’s open space tax, which generates $16 – $18 million a year, Gleitz said.
In the 14 years the program has been operating, $26 million has been granted for 171 projects. Of those, 49 were for land purchases and 122 for property development. Of the county’s 53 municipalities, 47 have received grant money.
The $2 million in grants is expected to be awarded by the county Board of Freeholders in December, following a public hearing.
In 2015, 12 projects received grants. In the Two River area, Holmdel received $137,000 to build a tot lot at Cross Farm Park; Little Silver received $121,000 for improvements to baseball fields at municipal fields, Sickles Park and Challenger Field; Middletown was granted $201,000 for the construction of a multisport synthetic turf field and improvements to Croydon Hall synthetic turf field; Red Bank got $223,000 for the addition of benches, lighting and outdoor exercise equipment at Mohawk Pond and the installation of a permanent bathroom facility and improvements to East Side Park; and Rumson received  $137,000 for the addition of ADA playground equipment and two new playgrounds at Piping Rock Park.
Here are how local towns would like to spend the funds:

Colts Neck
Seeking $94,000 toward improving walking paths at Township Hall.
Fair Haven
$250,000 for Navesink River bank stabilization and other improvements at Williams, Albert and Robards Park.Williams, Albert and Robards Park is on the river at the end of De-Normandie Avenue. The plans include putting in a “living shoreline” of native plants, said Fair Haven Mayor Benjamin Lucarelli.
“The rest of the park is going to be landscaped for passive use,” Lucarelli said.
Highlands
$150,000 for restrooms at Snug Harbor and Veteran’s parks, along with a patio awning at the Community Center.
Middletown
$167,500 for lighting at Nut Swamp Turf Field.
Oceanport
$250,000 for buying 918 Murphy Drive.
NEWS-COUNTY-OPENSPACE2Red Bank
$228,000 for shade structures with benches and dugout covers at Eastside and Count Basie parks.
Rumson
$250,000 toward buying the 4.2-acre Picnic Island and 11.6 acres, or about half, of Dorn Island, both next to each other in the Navesink River. Rumson is interested in the properties for various reasons, according to Borough Engineer David Marks and Administrator Thomas Rogers. They include preserving open space, protecting the river environment and controlling flood intensity. See article. 
Sea Bright
$100,000 for the development of a passive park on the Shrewsbury River at the corner of Ocean Avenue and Rumson Road/Route 520. The park would include a gazebo, benches and pathway.
Other towns applying include Aberdeen, Allenhurst, Allentown, Asbury Park, Bradley Beach, Hazlet, Keansburg, Matawan, Neptune, Ocean, Sea Girt, Spring Lake, Spring Lake Heights, Union Beach and Wall.