BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP
Staff Writer
NORTH BRUNSWICK — The township is planning to swap land with the Board of Education.
During the regular Monday night meeting, the Township Council unanimously passed a resolution supporting the exchange of approximately 11 acres of land near Linwood Middle School, Parsons Elementary School and the Board of Education building.
“The resolution supports what we want to do and allows us to begin the logistical work on both ends,” council President Carlo Socio said.
The swap would consist of two separate transactions, Socio said.
The bulk of the barter includes the township giving a little over 1 acre of land behind Parsons Elementary School on Cleremont Avenue in return for approximately 6 acres of land near the Board of Education building on Old Georges Road.
“The reason we’re getting so much land is that we’re going to have to get the swap approved by [the state], as the land we’re giving up is open space funded by Green Acres money,” Socio said.
The 6-acre tract in the Maple Meade section of town will come with a deed restriction that stipulates the township can only use the land for open space, Socio said. The property includes Caruso Field, a group of baseball fields next to the board building.
The board anticipates using the 1 acre of open space near Babbage Park for the expansion of Parsons Elementary School.
The township and the board are also considering swapping properties near Linwood Middle School on Linwood Place.
“Behind Linwood, there’s a strip of land around the softball field and an empty lot near Laurel Place that we would revert to the board in exchange for a strip of land adjacent to the school on Hermann Road,” Socio said.
The land that the township would get, which lies directly across the street from the township’s municipal complex, could be used for the development of a community or senior center or library, Socio said.
“These are some of our desires for the future of this property,” Socio said. “However, it’s too soon to tell what residents would like to put there.”