Twp. Planner Granted Time Extension

RAGAN DESIGN GROUP just received a resolution approval by the Pemberton Township Council, authorizing them an extension to complete the Master Plan.

TOWNSHIP OF PEMBERTON

RESOLUTION NO. 249-2008

RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING EXTENSION TO CONTRACT OF PROFESSIONAL PLANNER FOR THE PEMBERTON TOWNSHIP MASTER PLAN PROJECT

WHEREAS, the Township of Pemberton (the “Township”) is required to conduct a general reexamination of the Township’s Master Plan, which requires the services of a Professional Planner; and

WHEREAS, the Township previously issued a request for proposals and selected a Professional Planner in accordance with a fair and open procedure in accordance with N.J.S.A. 19:44A-20.4 et seq. and the Township of Pemberton Code; and

WHEREAS, the Ragan Design Group (“Ragan”) submitted a proposal for the Project and the Township Council determined that Ragan possessed the necessary qualifications to perform the services outlined in the RFP; and

WHEREAS, the Township and Ragan (collectively the “Parties”) entered into a one year professional services agreement (“Agreement”), executed December 15, 2007, for Ragan to provide professional planning services to the Township for the purpose of establishing appropriate planning criteria and design guidelines for the Township of Pemberton Master Plan, Revising the Master Plan and consulting on revisions to the Township Zoning Ordinance (the “Project”); and

WHEREAS, Ragan has not completed the Project within the term of the Agreement; and

WHEREAS, the Township issued a request for proposals (the “RFP”) for professional planning services for 2009 in accordance with a fair and open procedure in accordance with N.J.S.A. 19:44A-20.4 et seq. and the Township of Pemberton Code; and

WHEREAS, Ragan submitted a proposal in response to the RFP; and

WHEREAS, under the Local Public Contracts Law, a contract for professional services may be awarded without competitive bidding; and

WHEREAS, the Township has determined that it is appropriate to award a professional services contract to Ragan in order to complete the Project; and

WHEREAS, Ragan has agreed to complete the Project at no additional cost to the Township and in compliance with all of the terms and conditions of the Agreement; and

WHEREAS, the Township and Ragan have agreed to extend the Agreement by one year via another written agreement (the “Agreement Extension”).

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Township Council of the Township of Pemberton, in the County of Burlington and State of New Jersey, that the Mayor is hereby authorized to execute an Agreement Extension in a form substantially similar to that contained herein as Exhibit A.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a certified copy of this Resolution shall be provided to each of the following:

a. Ragan Design Group

b. Township Administrator

c. Township Chief Financial Officer

d. GluckWalrath LLP

PEMBERTON TOWNSHIP COUNCIL

ATTEST:

I herein certify that the foregoing Resolution was adopted by the governing body of Pemberton Township on December 3, 2008.

MARY ANN YOUNG, MMC, TOWNSHIP CLERK

Burlington County wants to preserve 200 farms

December 4, 2008 COURIER POST
Burlington County wants to preserve 200 farms

Burlington County plans to preserve an additional 200 farms, or about 20,000 acres, over the next 10 years, officials said Wednesday.

The plan, approved by the county's Agriculture Development Board, is required by new regulations tied to state funding. The county plans to acquire development rights for 100 farms, said Freeholder Bill Haines. The other 100 farms will be targeted through "innovative" techniques, such as working with municipalities and promoting the Pinelands development credit program, he said.

The county already has preserved 50,000 farmland acres.

Budget troubles endanger $350M preschool plan

Delaying expansion of programs would be last resort, Corzine says

Thursday, October 30, 2008

BY DUNSTAN McNICHOL

Star-Ledger Staff

Mounting state budget troubles may force New Jersey to delay plans for a $350 million expansion of public preschool programs, but such a move would be a last resort, Gov. Jon Corzine told a convention of school board members yesterday.

"We're going to fight to hold our education funding," Corzine told about 500 delegates at the New Jersey School Boards Association's annual workshop in Atlantic City. "That doesn't mean there won't be any cuts. That doesn't mean there won't be any freezes. But it means it will be the last thing on the table."

Corzine is grappling with a revenue shortfall of at least $400 million in the current state budget and a hole of up to $4 billion in the spending plan he will present to lawmakers in March. He acknowledged that has led to concern that the state will defer providing $50 million next year to begin expanding preschool to communities with high concentrations of needy students.

"I know there's some consternation the timing of this initiative will be delayed, but certainly not the commitment," he said. Asked by reporters if he was suggesting the preschool initiative would be postponed, Corzine said: "We'll look at it. It's not a big budget item next year."

Part of the new school funding formula enacted last year, Corzine's plan would be the state's biggest expansion of preschool for low-income students since the state Supreme Court's Abbott vs. Burke rulings, which ordered universal pre-kindergarten in 31 of the poorest districts.

The plan would take the court rulings a step further and order similar preschool for all low-income students, wherever they live. Depending on the numbers, districts would be required to establish the preschool themselves or contract with outside centers to provide the service for eligible students. The state would pay the tab and estimated 17,000 more students would be served as the program is phased in over six years at an eventual cost of $350 million.

Jerry Tarnoff, superintendent of West Orange schools, said he was encouraged that Corzine suggested the preschool funding would only be cut as a last resort. "I am pleased he would like to commit to full funding," said Tarnoff. "Anything less, if the program were to go forward, would make it extremely difficult for the local taxpayers."

Sharon Dey, a member of the Jackson Township school board, was less enthused after hearing state Education Commissioner Lucille Davy discuss the preschool program at a seminar that followed Corzine's speech.

"I have no confidence," she said. "I think the state is going to do a shell game." If preschool is funded next year, Dey said, she fears the state will cut other aid to balance the books.

Earlier yesterday, Corzine was in Washington urging Congress to include investment in construction projects like the planned new Hudson River train tunnel as part of a new economic stimulus package.

Corzine testified at a hearing by the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, which is considering tens of billions of dollars for highway, water and sewer projects and modernization of schools and public housing.

"Unfunded projects and plans are in place, ready to do," Corzine said in his prepared testimony. "Let's put people to work, build roads, bridges, tunnels, schools, wastewater treatment systems -- even a 21st-century commitment to build alternative energy capacity and implement carbon abatement policies."

He said building a second mass-transit tunnel under the Hudson is the kind of project that would put people to work and have long-range benefits.

Staff writer John Mooney contributed to this report.

Cyclists, agriculture supporters ready for county's annual Tour des Farms

By MELISSA HAYES
Burlington County Times

SOUTHAMPTON — Cyclists and farm-stand owners are gearing up for Burlington County's second annual Tour des Farms.

Unlike the Tour de France, this bicycling event isn't a 23-day competition. It's a one-day tour of the county's farmbelt, with stops at farm stands along the way.

This year's event will be held Sept. 6 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event begins and ends at the Jack Allen Memorial Early Country Living Museum on Landing Street. Riders can choose from one of three tours: a 13-mile route, a 25-mile route or a 50-mile route.

The rain date is Sept. 7.

“The tour is designed to raise awareness and support for South Jersey agricultural lands,” Freeholder Bill Haines said. “Many of the farms included on the tour participate in Burlington County's farm-preservation program.”

Ken Taaffe, coordinator of the South Jersey Resource Conservation and Development Council in Mansfield, brought the idea of a Tour des Farms to the county Board of Freeholders after learning of a similar event in Connecticut.

Taaffe, a county resident and cyclist, said the 50-mile loop goes as far as Chesterfield and includes stops at 13 farm stands. The 25-mile route travels through Pemberton Township and stops at eight farm stands. On the 13-mile route, riders will stay in Southampton and visit five farm stands.

Taaffe said farm stands that participated in the inaugural tour last year loved it.

“It gave them a few extra bucks, but I think it was just the idea of bringing a new audience to them and the publicity,” he said. “Each one of these farm stands grows their own vegetables and brings them in, and most of them are on deed-restricted farms.”

The 2007 Tour des Farms drew 192 riders.

Taaffe said riders go out in small groups with maps of the routes. The routes are also clearly marked with paint, and this year event staff will be placed at each farm stand to help keep riders on track.

Participants must be at least 12 years old. They must wear helmets, sign release forms and bring their own water bottles.

The registration fees before Sept. 4 are $40 for individuals, $60 for couples and $15 for each additional family member. After Sept. 4, the fees are $45 for individuals, $70 for couples and $15 for each additional family member.

Each participant gets a T-shirt and five “farm bucks” that can be used to buy produce or other items at the farm stands. Purchases will be delivered to the Jack Allen museum so that the riders do not have to tote them as they complete their routes.

The event is limited to 275 participants. Proceeds support the South Jersey Resource Conservation and Development Council's “Farming for the Future” grant program.

To register or for information, visit http://www.active.com/ or www.sjrcd.org/touresdesfarms or call (609) 267-1639, ext. 110.

E-mail: mhayes@phillyBurbs.com

Burlco getting $1 million to preserve land near base

Posted on Thu, Aug. 14, 2008
Phila. Inquirer
- Edward Colimore

Burlington County will receive more than $1 million from the Defense Department to preserve land in the military buffer zone around McGuire Air Force Base and Fort Dix through an agreement to be signed by the county freeholders. Freeholder Director Aubrey Fenton, who will sign the agreement with the Air Force, said preservation of land adjoining Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst "dovetails with the goals of the Joint Land Use Study currently under way by the Defense Department and Burlington and Ocean Counties."Added Freeholder Bill Haines Jr.: "We plan to use these federal funds to support the preservation of several farms totaling approximately 800 acres in the most critical areas of the two-mile-radius buffer zone." The county will use some of the money on the 125-acre Bell Farm in North Hanover. The other farms targeted for the funding are at various stages in the preservation process. Sixty-three farms totaling 6,673 acres have been preserved to date in the military buffer zone.

Burlco will build buffer for bases

By CAROL COMEGNO • Courier-Post Staff • August 20, 2008

MOUNT HOLLY — Burlington County will use $1 million from the federal government to help preserve farmland as part of a buffer zone around McGuire Air Force Base and Fort Dix -- a total of about 800 acres.

County Freeholder-Director Aubrey Fenton has signed an agreement with the Air Force to accept a $1.08 million grant from the Defense Department, which is assisting military bases with encroachment issues through its readiness and environmental protection initiative.

The county goal is preservation of more than 20,000 farmland acres surrounding McGuire Air Force base and the Army post at Fort Dix through public acquisition and innovative zoning techniques by municipalities.

The two bases are becoming part of a joint megabase that will include the adjacent Lakehurst Naval Air Engineering Station in Ocean County.

McGuire Air Force Base applied for the grant and received the $1 million being awarded to the county.

Freeholder William Haines Jr. said the county will use the money toward the purchase price of several farms totaling 800 acres in the critical areas of a buffer zone that has a two-mile radius.

"The county's farmland preservation program is an effective tool to minimize conflicting land uses that could impact the bases," he said.

Carolee Nisbet, Fort Dix spokeswoman, said there is a need to maintain a buffer between military operations and the surrounding communities.

"It is absolutely important to all three military installations and the county is doing a great job as have some of the townships," she said.

Dan Kennedy, county farmland preservation program coordinator, said the buffer is preferred for security for military operations.

In case of an emergency landing, he said the Air Force wants open space around the base in case a plane is ordered to dump fuel before a landing.

Kennedy said there has been no major residential development in the two-mile zone except for some base housing. He said sparse commercial or industrial development is not as intrusive as residential development.

The county plans to use the money for ongoing efforts to preserve farms in Pemberton Township and New Hanover and also for the $2.5 million purchase price of the Bell Farm in North Hanover.

He said a total of 6,673 farm acres already have been preserved in the military buffer zone with a total goal of more than 26,000. The countywide farmland preservation goal is 70,000 of the 110,000 active farm acres.

Reach Carol Comegno at (609) 267-9486 or ccomegno@courierpostonline.com

http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080820/NEWS01/808200388/1006/news01

Wilson Farm - What's Going to Happen Next?

What's going to happen to the 120+ acre farm currently listed on LandAndFarm.com and known as the Wilson Farm?

We will continue to follow this property to see what occurs with the '21 single-family one acre residential lots'.

For further information about the property, click on the title of this post to access the LandAndFarm website.

Are We Paying Too Many Taxes?

On the Star Ledger's website you can see how we rank as Pembertonians in relation to the property taxes paid for living in this beautifully rural community compared to over 500 other municipalities in New Jersey. We are ranked at no. 496 out of 526, just 30 from being the lowest. This amazing website allows you, the taxpayer, access to information about home sales, property taxes, development, crime, and so much more. Just click on the title to access the database.

Towns around joint base seek a say in its growth Jobs and development are at issue as an Army-Navy-Air Force complex takes shape in South Jersey

Philadelphia Inquirer - Sun, Aug. 3, 2008


Towns around joint base seek a say in its growth. Jobs and development are at issue as an Army-Navy-Air Force complex takes shape in South Jersey.

By Edward Colimore
Inquirer Staff Writer

Each side has its needs: The military wants its space. The towns want to cash in. The nation's only contiguous Army-Navy-Air Force megabase is seeking land buffers around its 60 square miles in Burlington and Ocean Counties. Military leaders don't want homes or schools next to airfields.

The 10 surrounding towns, meanwhile, would like help preserving land and coordinating business development. Local leaders don't want to see the restaurants and shops in their communities duplicated on Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.

The high-stakes give-and-take is under way between military and civilian officials who have been plotting the future of the New Jersey towns and the martial giant in their midst.

Their discussions are part of a $300,000 study expected to provide a road map for land use, preservation, zoning changes and retail development on both sides of the fence.

Funded mainly by the Defense Department, the study will affect decisions involving thousands of jobs and vast capital investments. More than $500 million in construction has begun at the bases, with an additional $179.1 million approved Friday by the House of Representatives. And neighboring Wrightstown is planning a $60 million town center, including a new hotel.

"Controlling local development around the bases is very important," said Rep. Jim Saxton (R., N.J.), who led the fight to save the bases from military cuts in 2005.

"I assure you there are bases around the country that are closed today because of overdevelopment outside the gate. It's this type of community support which has kept the bases open."

The study follows 2005 Base Closure and Realignment recommendations that direct Fort Dix, McGuire Air Force Base, and Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst to be transformed into Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst by 2011.

It "will provide a blueprint for Ocean and Burlington Counties and their towns to protect the bases from encroachment, and protect the 17,000 people who work there," Saxton said.

McGuire Air Force Base is the largest employer in Burlington County, and Fort Dix is one of the largest. Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst is the biggest employer in Ocean County. The three bases have an annual economic impact exceeding $2 billion.

They are surrounded by Wrightstown, New Hanover, North Hanover, Pemberton Borough, Pemberton Township and Springfield in Burlington County, and by Lakehurst Borough, Manchester, Jackson and Plumsted in Ocean County.

"We need to ensure that the elevated activities on the base over the next 10 years work harmoniously with the towns and their land-use plans, that transportation issues are addressed, and that any new residential and commercial development addresses both the communities' needs as well as those of the military," said Burlington County Freeholder Joseph B.
Donnelly, who oversees the county's Department of Economic Development and Regional Planning.

"It stands to reason that more military activity means more commercial activity in the housing market. However, new development into the areas closest to the base is also an issue, and also has to be considered as part of the planning effort."

The military doesn't want "incompatible land uses, such as residential housing, in a flight crash zone," said Mark Remsa, director of economic development and regional planning for Burlington County.

"Maybe it would be better to have a warehouse or a golf course" near airfields, added Dave McKeon, director of planning for Ocean County. "The key part of this is having no encroachment."

Burlington County has already preserved more than 20,000 acres of land and hopes to preserve an additional 20,000 near the base, said Jeff Sagnip, a spokesman for Saxton.

In Ocean County, funding from the Navy, the county, and the Pinelands Commission is being used to preserve open space on the northern border of Lakehurst near Route 571, officials said.

"Some land has been purchased. We're looking for other opportunities," said Navy Capt. Phil Beachy, Lakehurst's commanding officer. "Encroachment limits our ability to do the mission we're here to do. If we can't do our mission, it will have to go elsewhere."

Public town-hall meetings on the land-use study will be held in Burlington and Ocean Counties in the coming weeks. No dates have been announced. The study is expected to be completed in about seven months and will act as a nonbinding master plan.

While the bases focus on buffer zones, the towns plan to benefit from the growing numbers of military and civilian workers at the bases.

The local economy was hit hard in the last two decades by the ups and downs of the bases, which were regularly threatened with closure as missions changed.

Then came the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, prompting the shutdown of Texas Road through Fort Dix and creating further hardship. Motorists had to go many miles out of their way to cross the area, and traffic bottlenecks developed in normally quiet places such as Pemberton Borough.

But the designation of McGuire, Dix and Lakehurst as a joint installation and new investments there breathed new life into the bases and municipalities.

While some communities, such as New Hanover, hope to protect their rural character - with outside funding - built-out towns, such as Wrightstown, hope to provide services to the bases.

The borough is planning a $60 million downtown center, including a 120-room hotel and conference center, a restaurant, a bank, retailers, and possibly medical offices.

"We're looking for ways to benefit the bases and the people living around them," Mayor Tom Harper said. "Wrightstown wants to complement the bases. What can we build here that you need and don't want to build on the base?"

McKeon, of Ocean County, said, "We're looking for common goals where there is a win-win situation for everybody."

Burlington Co. plans auction of 8 farms under preservation

COURIER POST ARTICLE 7/27/08

by Carol Comegno

MOUNT HOLLY — Burlington County will auction off eight preserved farms totaling 700 acres that will be restricted for agricultural use only.

It will be the second major auction of farmland that the county board of freeholders have purchased through its preservation program using a dedicated county property tax and state grants.

The freeholders approved the auction of the eight farms in six municipalities by a unanimous vote Wednesday night.

"By transferring these farms back to private ownership, the county will get these lands back into the hands of farmers who can invest in and sustain these farms in the future at no cost to taxpayers," said county Freeholder William Haines Jr.

Haines said the sale is expected to raise between $5 million and $6 million and will be held early in 2009 after public notices and hearings. No specific date has been set.

He said all of the farms were being marketed for sale by previous owners for nonagricultural development before the county bought them.

The farms are: Armstrong in Mansfield, 260 acres; Orchard Enterprises in Chesterfield, 41 acres; Bell in North Hanover, 125 acres; C. Pettit in Pemberton Township, 125 acres; William Pettit in Springfield and Pemberton Township, 62 acres; Ashmore in Florence, 45 acres; Blaetz in Pemberton Township, 45 acres; and Conover in Pemberton Township, 40 acres.

The freeholders also hired Max Spann Auction Co. of Clinton to sell the farms. Spann conducted the last county farmland auction of 964 acres in 2006 that raised $5.9 million. The money was placed in a county account for more farmland and open space preservation.

In another preservation action Wednesday, the county paid $346,500 to preserve the 66-acre Angelina Puglia farm on Jacksonville-Mount Holly Road in Eastampton and Springfield.

In other business, a consultant updated the freeholders on its study of encroachment issues around the pending Joint Base New Jersey -- a merger of Fort Dix, McGuire Air Force Base and Lakehurst Naval Air Engineering Station into one megabase.

Brandi Bartolomeo, project manager for lead consultant Paulus, Sokolowski and Sartor of Warren, said a public hearing in Burlington County and another in Ocean County will be scheduled in September to get public comment on data gathered so far and on land use maps.

Burlington and Ocean counties, the Department of Defense and 10 municipalities in the two counties are collaborating on the $300,000 land use study aimed at minimizing or eliminating certain types of development around the 44,000 acres that make up comprise the contiguous Army, Air Force and Navy facilities. The Defense Department funded the study.

The Web site for the study is www.jointbasenj.org.

Reach Carol Comegno at (609) 267-9486 or ccomegno@courierpostonline.com

Article can be found at the following web address: http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008807240382

It's Your Neighborhood - To Protect Or Give Away

RESULTS OF

PEMBERTON FIRST

SURVEY 2002

_______________________________________________________

Do you know that Pemberton Township is currently considering a draft ordinance changes to allow high-density housing in agricultural areas?

YES 125 NO 123

************************************************

Are you surprised such changes could allow 2,000 to 3,000 new neighbors in the North Pemberton and Arney's Mount Road Area?

YES 156 NO 92

************************************************

Do you think the addition of more than 1,000 residences will result in a reduction in taxes?

YES 32 NO 213

************************************************

Do you feel a few thousand more drivers (many in peak hours) will produce a negligible increase in local traffic?

YES 154 NO 93

************************************************

Is such a significant expansion in available housing being done to meet any known need of many current Pemberton Township residents?

YES 22 NO 216

************************************************

Would you like to see farmland and open space replaced by a gated community, and limited water and sewerage resources devoted to this level of expansion?

YES 28 NO 219

************************************************

Does an only 150 foot buffer strip along the Rancocas and Indian Creeks constitute open space preservation to you?

YES 26 NO 214

************************************************

Should the Township continue changing its master pan and zoning regulations to permit high-density housing and sewer lines into agriculturally zoned areas?

YES 22 NO 220

************************************************

Do you believe that zoning changes to some agriculture areas will open the door for other developers to legally get similar treatment on other properties?

YES 230 NO 14

************************************************

Would you like to see Pemberton Township retain its rural character and not develop similarly to Mt. Laurel, Evesham and Cherry Hill?

YES 217 NO 32

************************************************

Should the Township devote its attention to solving sewerage treatment problems for existing residents before allocating capacity and resources to new developments?

YES 237 NO 8

************************************************

Would you support a citizen's grass-roots movement to evaluate any zoning changes to the present agricultural areas and guarantee the preservation of farmland and open space in the Township?

YES 214 NO 29