PLUMSTED – Township officials and the chairman of the township’s Environmental Committee discussed a possible option for the community to preserve land that could continue to be used by township school students.
During the latest Township Committee meeting Mayor Dominick Cuozzo read a June 19 letter from School Superintendent David Ytreboe who requested a zoning change that would affect 57 Main Street. The letter states, “The Board of Education is seeking to change the zoning on the land from R-40 (which is a residential zone) to C-4 (which can also be a residential zone but involves density) and is in the New Egypt redevelopment zone land area but is outside the C-4 zoning district.”
“By rezoning it to C-4 the Board can unlock the full potential of the property, maximize the profit and balance the budget for 2024-2025 school year. Unfortunately the current zoning of the R-40 does not provide enough value to provide enough benefit for the district and would not close the budget shortfall,” Ytreboe wrote in his letter to the Committee.
This topic was previously discussed in June when John Neyenhouse, a former member of the township planning board spoke during a public comment period noting that he had worked with Ocean County’s Natural Land Trust Fund for several years. “…working with the County parks to get us some more passive recreation in the county park area within the town, the county reached out to me and offered an option for us for the property across the elementary school on North Main Street.”
He said the idea involved “the county to preserve and pay for that park giving us fair market value for what a developer would pay for that property and then preserve it and use it for passive recreation and for the use of the schools.”
“We would be able to pull all the money we could get if we were to sell it to a developer but get that as free county money and preserve that land and keep it as open space,” Neyenhouse added. “There really are no county parks anywhere close to New Egypt so the county really is interested in more park land.”
Neyenhouse suggested the school superintendent file an application with the County’s Natural Land Trust. Deputy Mayor Herb Marinari said the township could also be involved.
Mayor Cuozzo said at that meeting that this wouldn’t fall under the purview of the Committee. “If the school district asked us to rezone it, we might be able to get a better value for the town and we have committed to doing whatever we can to help them.” At this month’s meeting the mayor said now that this occurred, “we are considering that request.”
Proclamation And Swearing In
Mayor Cuozzo announced that resident Sara Scozzari received the Ocean County Mayor’s Association Scholar award.
He took the opportunity to note that “our girls softball team took the sectional championship and they did very well on the state level for such a small district. I presented the sectional trophy to them. The one senior on that team received a scholarship for softball and she was also the recipient of the mayor’s association scholar of the year award and received that scholarship as well.”
New township police officer Chandler Hasting recently took his oath of office surrounded by Police Chief Earl Meroney, Hasting’s parents and his brother who is a member of the Howell Township police department.
Resignations And Resolutions
Noted during recent committee meetings were the resignations of township police officer Remington Johnston, long-time township employee Dena Kaiser and construction officer Kevin Schmalls.
No new ordinances were introduced that evening but several resolutions were approved. The firm of Levin Shea Pfeffer & Goldman were appointed as municipal prosecutor.
Mayor Cuozzo also noted to the Committee that that the Plumsted Municipal Utility Authority (PMUA) requested consideration to a $250,000 subsidy. “The long and short of is that they are requesting the township make up the (deficit) difference.”
“Either they get an expansion of their service area and they get more revenue that way or there is a development within the current service area. The expense of the sewer treating plant is not going to go down. The township has made a $175,000 investment that we set aside in the R&R is for mechanical systems we know are going to fail and we set aside that money now,” the mayor added.
Cuozzo said, “we are in the process of doing that as we want this to succeed.”
Other resolutions that have been approved concerned supporting the Ocean County Engineering Department’s proposed project on Route 539 at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.
An agreement with Spatial Data Logic LLC for construction software was approved along with the appointment of Jessica Sibert as a full-time typist.
Resolution 2024-226 which amended resolution 2024-197 authorized municipal endorsement of the Ocean County Natural Lands Preservation Program.
A donation of flowers and labor for the township by Big Woods Farm and Nursey located in the community was also accepted in a separate resolution.
Committee members passed a resolution for a shared services agreement with Manchester Township for shared use of their tax assessor, Martin W. Lynch.
