Committee approves $2,236,000for total of 147 acres
By John Tredrea
The Hopewell Township Committee OK’d the acquisition of four tracts of land to preserve a total of 147 acres as open space at a total cost of $2,236,000 at its year-end meeting on Dec. 19.
Each of the acquisitions was covered by an ordinance of its own. All were introduced by unanimous committee votes Nov. 21 and had been scheduled for adoption votes during the committee’s Dec. 5 meeting. However, a heavy snowstorm caused that session to be canceled.
The money for the four acquisitions will come from the township’s Open Space Trust Fund in tandem with contributions from state and county government, along with nonprofit organizations devoted to open space preservation.
The four open space land acquisitions were endorsed during the Nov. 21 meeting by Edmund Stiles, chairman of the township’s Open Space Advisory Committee and a professor of botany at Rutgers University.
Under one of the ordinances, the township can pay up to $970,000 for just under 59 acres of land, off county Route 518 in the eastern section of the township and owned by the Gomez family. Dr. Stiles termed this deal a "bargain sale" because the price the Gomez family is asking represents three-fourths of the value of the land in the open market. A contribution from the Mercer County Trust Fund is expected to offset 15 percent of the township’s burden. Another contribution, from the Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space, is expected to cover another 5-10 percent.
Similarly termed "a bargain sale" by Dr. Stiles is an open space acquisition covered by a second ordinance, which will enable the township to pay up to $600,000 for 43 acres, owned by the Rappaport family, off county Route 518 near Bear Tavern Road.
A third ordinance authorizes the township to pay up to $660,000 for just under 43 acres owned by the Bellando family, off Church Road near Baldpate Mountain in the northwestern section of the township. This acquisition is "part of the overall state plan to add" to Baldpate-area lands, totaling about 1,000 acres, that already have been preserved as open space, Dr. Stiles said during the Dec. 19 meeting.
The township is expected to be fully reimbursed for its $660,000 share by state government, Dr. Stiles added. In order to meet the Bellando family’s price, the Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space will add $192,000 to the $660,000 the township will front for the state, he said.
The fourth ordinance will enable the township to pay Public Service Electric and Gas up to $6,000 for 1 acre of land, located off county Route 654. Dr. Stiles called this a key acquisition because the 1 acre is adjacent to other lands the township may want to acquire as open space, as part of an ongoing effort to develop a series of long, uninterrupted trails in the Hopewell Valley area.

