BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer
The leader of the Monmouth Conservation Foundation (MCF) fears the worst for Monmouth County horse farms and beaches.
Judith Stanley Coleman, MCF’s president, gave her annual report at the foundation’s 29th annual board meeting on April 30. MCF is a nonprofit organization dedicated to acquiring, holding and preserving open space in Monmouth County.
“Our horse farms in western Monmouth are falling to McMansions, while our entire coastline from the Bayshore to Brielle is being redeveloped,” Stanley Coleman said while addressing those who attended the meeting in her Middletown home.
She warned the audience that 14,000 acres of federally and state-owned land in Monmouth County is now in danger of development. Properties that could be developed include Naval Weapons Station Earle in Colts Neck and Middletown; Sandy Hook; the former Marlboro State Psychiatric Hospital; the Arthur Brisbane Child Treatment Center in Wall Township; and U.S. Army post Fort Monmouth in Eatontown, according to Stanley Coleman.
To deter development, Stanley Coleman stressed how important it is for municipalities to include enforceable ordinances in their master plans.
To meet its goal of preserving an additional 5,000 acres over the next five years, the MCF has undertaken a capital campaign to raise an additional $5 million beyond its annual fundraising efforts.
Last year, the MCF received a $1 million matching challenge grant from the J.M. Huber Corp. in Edison. So far, the foundation has raised a third of its targeted amount.
“Land prices are going up every day,” Stanley Coleman said. “We have to raise money now as fast as we can.”
The foundation recently re-elected Stanley Coleman as its president. MCF members also returned Vice President Mary Tassini, of Brielle, Treasurer Barry Davall, of Middletown, and Secretary Shannon Eadon, of Rumson, to their posts.
New trustees Jan Eisner, of Atlantic Highlands, George Whitelaw, of Locust, and Peter Kemmerer, of Oceanport, were also elected to the board.
Other attendees at the meeting included Assemblywoman Amy Handlin, Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders Director William Barham and Sen. Joseph Kyrillos (R-Monmouth/Middlesex).
Kyrillos told the audience that the state Legislature signed a law on April 28 that requires at least one of the four gubernatorial appointees overseeing the Fort Monmouth Redevelopment Committee to have a conservation background. He said Stanley Coleman originally suggested the measure.
Among the local residents who attended the meeting were Cory and Carol Wingerter, of Millstone, John and Gail Mele, of Upper Freehold, and Monmouth County Park System (MCPS) Director James Truncer and his wife, Ramona, of Allentown.
John Mele, Cory Wingerter and James Truncer all serve as MCF trustees and work on the acquisitions committee. Truncer and Wingerter received appointments to serve on the MCF’s Executive Committee this year.
Former Millstone Township official Bill Kastning, who now calls Hunterdon County his home, also attended the meeting.
During the event, the MCF presented its annual “Shining Star” awards to some of its own members.
The foundation honored Shannon Eadon, of Rumson, for her fundraising efforts in the MCF, according to Stanley Coleman.
Eadon, clearly surprised by the honor, said, “My very serious passion is saving land, but the award belongs to various people I’ve roped in over the years to volunteer and help.”
Other Shining Star awards went to Eisner, producer/director Tom Phillips, and celebrities Deborah Harry of the rock group Blondie, radio station disc jockey “Big Joe” Henry of New Jersey 101.5 FM, and soap opera star Frank DiCopoulos from “Guiding Light.”
Some of the award recipients worked on a public service announcement (PSA) for MCF that addressed growth and preservation issues. The PSA, which ran on Comcast and Cablevision TV stations, received several media awards.
Eadon announced that the MCF’s annual dinner dance will take place on Sept. 30 at the park system’s latest acquisition, the Timolat property in Middletown.
The MCF worked with the MCPS to purchase the 99-acre parcel, which is adjacent to Huber Woods Park in the Locust section of Middletown, for $12 million.
The Timolat property and the Fisher-Stern land, a 44-acre parcel that was acquired last year, are part of the Navesink Highlands Greenway project the MCF is working to complete.
Stanley Coleman thanked Paul Timolat, who was in the audience, for his family’s help in the preservation process.
Other priority properties for the greenway project include the 39-acre Annarella Farm in Locust, which is also contiguous to Huber Woods, and a conservation/horse-trail easement on the 60-acre Reid Farm on Whippoorwill Valley Road in Middletown.

