By Jessica Ercolino, Staff Writer
UPPER FREEHOLD — The township could be part of a three-and-a-half mile trail network within the next 10 years if officials choose to implement a plan from the Crosswicks-Doctors Watershed Association.
The trail complex would link the recently preserved Breza Road tract, existing trails in Heritage Park and the new middle school site, said Upper Freehold residents Mike Renzulli and Marc Covitz during last week’s presentation on behalf of the association.
Later stages of the project could connect Robbinsville’s newly preserved Kulp/Van Cleef property at the intersection of Robbinsville-Allentown Road and Circle Drive, and create perimeter trails around the middle school site, they said.
In April, a portion of Breza Road was preserved as part of a $4,430,000 preservation effort between the township, Allentown, the Trust for Public Land, the state Department of Environmental Protection’s Green Acres program, Monmouth Conservation Foundation, Monmouth County and private donors.
”Part of the Breza Road money is provided by Green Acres, which generally requires some sort of passive recreation,” Mr. Renzulli said. “Trails are an excellent passive recreational use for the properties.”
He added that providing a connection from the middle school property — also on Breza Road — to the “population center” of Upper Freehold and downtown Allentown would be beneficial to students.
The trails would be woodland and field perimeter trails, and would not impact farmlands by cutting through fields, Mr. Renzulli said. A small parking lot would be created at an existing parking area on Breza Road, near the Indian Run bridge.
The township could apply for a grant from the National Recreation Trails program, which provides up to $25,000 with a 20 percent match by the municipality. Mr. Covitz said Upper Freehold’s award would depend on the total cost of the project: To get the maximum award, the total project cost would be $31,250, and the township would be responsible for $6,250. Allentown and Upper Freehold could work to create the trails on the property they preserved together at a cost of no more than $12,500, Mr. Renzulli said.
The 46 acres on Breza Road not yet preserved are part of the joint preservation project’s second phase. Mr. Renzulli said that the remaining tract is a “key link” in the trail project and it would need to be preserved before trails can be built.
Kathy Haake, project manager for the Trust for Public Land, a national non-profit land conservation association, said Monday that the sale of the property so that it could be preserved should close before the end of the year. She could not reveal the cost because it is under a confidentiality agreement, but said that Upper Freehold, Allentown and the state will share in the purchase and have joint ownership of the land.
Once the tract is preserved and municipal officials express interest in the trails project, an open space agreement and an agreement from the participating municipalities to match the grant would need to be signed. Mr. Renzulli conservatively estimated the trail complex could be completed in five to 10 years, depending on available funding. Mr. Covitz added the deadline to receive federal grant money for the upcoming year is Dec. 15.

