St. Mike’s over the top with $3,257,682.40

Jo-Ann Munoz: The purchase and preservation of the land are just the beginning. More funds will be needed to "create the kind of asset the community deserves and expects"

By Ruth Luse
   They did it! And with money to spare.
   The D&R Greenway Land Trust (D&R), with lots of help from the community, beat today’s fundraising deadline and, thus, will be able to purchase the St. Michael’s property for purposes of open space preservation.
   As of March 13, D&R had raised $3,257,682.40 in cash and pledges from private donors for the preservation project.
   "This means that the organization has fulfilled their contractual obligation with the Diocese of Trenton and will be able to purchase the St. Michael’s property for $11 million and permanently protect the land, forever," Jo-Ann Munoz, D&R director of communications, said late Tuesday.
   D&R expects to receive $8 million in state, county and municipal funding. To gather the extra $3 million in private donations, D&R began a fundraising campaign in September 2006 at the Hopewell Harvest Fair.
   David Roskos, attorney for the property’s record owner, St. Michael’s Orphan Asylum and Industrial School, said Monday — when it appeared all was going well with the fundraising campaign — "St. Michael’s is very encouraged. We still have some details to work through but the fact that the necessary funds have been raised is wonderful news."
   Mr. Roskos recently said: "We have a contract with the D&R Greenway Trust that is contingent on D&R’s assembling the necessary funds . . . If the preservation effort falls through the property can be developed as a hamlet under current zoning." Now that the money has been raised, there will be no hamlet.
   Support from private donors for the preservation of the 337-acre tract, just south and east of Hopewell Borough, has been unwavering since early February, when the D&R still needed $1,500,000.
   "The support for preserving the St. Michael’s land has been phenomenal. The dedication and enthusiasm of the St. Michael’s Preservation Committee was transferred to the entire community. This past week, as our funding deadline approached, D&R received over 150 contributions, in checks, delivered by mail or in person, and in donations made over the phone with credit cards," said Land Trust Executive Director Linda J. Mead.
   "This weekend’s events were a huge success, collectively raising $20,000. As a result, the residents of Hopewell and surrounding communities will now have 337 acres of farmland and open space and a permanent natural asset to be enjoyed by future generations. We are deeply grateful to the more than 650 private donors to the St. Michael’s Preservation Project," Ms. Mead noted.
   "By happy coincidence, a well-timed call by representatives of the Larson Land Foundation on March 8, resulted in a $20,000 donation that nudged D&R over their $3 million private funding goal," Ms. Mead added.
   The Larson Land Foundation was established by two sisters — Edith Hillman and Ruth Becher Chartier — after they preserved their 72-acre farm along Crusher and Pennington-Rocky Hill roads in Hopewell Township with D&R Greenway in 2000. Now deceased, they were the daughters of the late Nils and Siri Larson, who originally came to Brooklyn, N.Y., from Sweden and moved to Hopewell Township in 1919. Years ago, the sisters set up the Larson Land Foundation to provide specifically for the maintenance of preserved farmlands.
   According to family member Richard Hillman, a longtime township resident, "Edith and Ruth would be so happy to know that they were able to help preserve the St. Michael’s land — neighboring land, so close to their own farm. Preserving the farmland, open space and rural character of Hopewell was very important to them."
   THE PRIVATE FUNDS raised in excess of the $3 million needed to complete the purchase price of St. Michael’s will be used for closing costs for the preservation transaction (expected to be in the $200,000 range) and earmarked to cover the interest payments on the loan D&R will need to take on, in order to upfront pledge amounts for several substantial donations that individuals have promised to pay to D&R Greenway over the next three or four years, said Ms. Munoz.
   "In all likelihood, D&R will not complete the purchase of the St. Michael’s property for several months," said Ms. Munoz. "Having succeeded in raising the funds to purchase the property, D&R will now enter the technical phase of the acquisition that includes completing the survey of the property and finalizing the environmental reports that enable closing."
   The diocese provided D&R and their consultant ENVIRON, with results of Phase I and Phase II environmental testing of the property before D&R entered into a contract. ENVIRON found that any environmental issues were typical of a 100-year-old farming operation and of the types of domestic trash associated with a large residential facility (the orphanage) that existed on the land for over 80 years, Ms. Munoz explained.
   Testing has suggested that significant contamination on the property in unlikely, said Ms. Munoz, who added: "D&R’s contract obligates the diocese to evaluate and remediate the old dumpsites on the property. ENVIRON has told D&R that with the cooperation of all government and private parties, there should be no reason why D&R cannot satisfy New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection requirements and complete the preservation of the St. Michael’s property" by the end of the year.
   Until D&R actually acquires the site, the land is still private property. No one should enter the property unless they are with a D&R representative, who would have secured permission from the diocese to tour the land.
   A COMMUNITY EVENT to celebrate the preservation of the St. Michael’s land is tentatively scheduled for this fall, Ms. Munoz said.
   The purchase and preservation of the land, however, are just the beginning. More funds will be needed in order to "create the kind of asset that the community deserves and expects," said Ms. Munoz.
   What do plans for the future entail? D&R will continue to farm St. Michael’s, Ms. Munoz said. Farming has been going on at the site since Hopewell was settled over 300 years ago.
   With additional funding, Ms. Munoz noted, "D&R could provide for sustainable agricultural methods that integrate well with conservation principles. Options and partnerships are being explored for organic farming and raising of livestock, such as grass-fed beef, that might be pastured on the hillside. The resulting produce and meat could be made available for purchase. Low-impact agricultural practices could include minimal tillage, contour farming, buffers along streams to protect water quality and planting of native grasses and hay crops. These uses can be symbiotic with providing grassland habitat for threatened and endangered birds such as bobolinks, meadow larks, grassland species of sparrows, and northern harriers and American kestrels.
   "Creating community gardens could offer educational and recreational opportunities. Finally, a model of farming practices could be developed for replication by other farmers and landowners in New Jersey, demonstrating the viability of combining agriculture and conservation into a primarily suburban landscape.
   "Left in its natural state, the property’s wooded acres on the property would support biodiversity and a healthier environment, safeguarding water resources and wildlife habitat; however, these non-agricultural open space acres could also provide a wealth of recreational opportunities. With additional funding, six miles of trails could be created through the natural landscape and along stream corridors, for walking, horseback riding and nature study. The St. Michael’s land could, in time, become the hub for a regional trail network linking to Princeton, Pennington, and the Sourlands," Ms. Munoz concluded.
   D&R’s ultimate goal for the St. Michael’s property is to "continue productive agriculture, protect the wildlife associated with agriculture and woodlands, and to provide the public with safe and appropriate access to the land."
   To make a direct donation, send a check, payable to D&R Greenway Land Trust, to One Preservation Place, Princeton, 08540. Donations may be made by using Visa or MasterCard or by calling D&R Greenway at 924-4646.