By maura dowgin
Staff Writer
HOLMDEL — The township has negotiated a price to buy and preserve F&F Nurseries.
F&F Nurseries is co-owned by John Flemer, president, and Albert Flemer, vice president. The 170-acre nursery has been located on the corner of Roberts Road and Crawfords Corner Road since 1954.
The Township Committee planned to introduce an ordinance at its July 28 meeting that would authorize the bonding of $7.2 million for the purchase of the nursery. The committee unanimously voted to table the issue for further discussion at an Aug. 11 meeting.
"In introducing this ordinance we are not obligating the town to spend this amount at this point," said Mayor Larry Fink.
The ordinance is a way to show the Flemers that the township is serious about its offer and is moving forward, said Deputy Mayor Janet Berk. The ordinance is reassuring Flemer that the township is committed to purchasing the property.
The township is expecting to receive funding for the project from the state for different areas of the property and may not have to pay the full $7.2 million itself, Fink said.
The township is looking for partial funding for the project from several different state, county, and local agencies including the state Agricultural Development Program, the state Green Acres program, and the Friends of Holmdel Open Space, Berk said.
"There are a lot of funding sources," Berk said.
Fink said he "expects to get reimbursed for this project somewhere in the realm of 50 percent."
The township needs to apply to the funding sources and will not know for several months whether or not it will be receiving any funds, Fink said.
"It’s very hard to sell this by saying we’re [authorizing the] bonding of $7.2 million but we’re never going to issue them," said Committeeman Terence Wall.
"People aren’t going to believe that you aren’t using up that $7.2 million," said Committeewoman Serena DiMaso.
There are no commitments from any funding agency that there will be any money for the acquisition of F&F Nurseries, Wall said.
"This was supposed to be a multiple-year deal," DiMaso said. "That option has not been fully explored."
The fiscal impact to the township and the taxpayers would be less if the $7.2 million were paid on a multiple-year payment plan, DiMaso said.
Many members of the public questioned the $7.2 million price tag for the property.
"I do think we should buy the Flemer property, but I do think we should pay the right price," said Judy Morris, a Holmdel resident and real estate agent for Mack-Morris-Beth Thomas Edwards Realtors, located in Holmdel. "I will tell you we are overpaying."
Morris estimated the property to be worth about $4 million.
"I do not think we’re overpaying," Berk said. The township would not negotiate a deal that would not be in the best interest of the taxpayers, she said.
The township has had an appraisal done on the property and has information about the property from when the Board of Education was negotiating with Flemer to purchase part of the land to build a new school in 2001, Berk said.
"We need more than one appraisal on [the property] to raise my comfort level," said Joseph Giamanco, a resident of Holmdel.
The township has been working, and continues to work, on a map of what will be put on the property if purchased, Fink said.
The township has discussed putting a new library on the F&F property, Berk said. There are other sites being discussed for the new library, though.
If a building is constructed on the property, there will be no sewers extended to the building, Berk said.
The Flemers could not be reached for comment.