JACKSON — Plans to build a memorial to Jackson residents who have served in the armed forces took a step forward recently.
Representatives of the Jackson Township Veterans Memorial Garden Inc. came before the Planning Board to share their plans for the memorial. The board issued a courtesy approval for the memorial in a unanimous vote.
The board’s engineer, Doug Klee, said the memorial will be constructed on municipal property on West Commodore Boulevard and Jackson Mills Road. An existing parking lot and an existing connection to a county road will be used.
Klee said the project involves bench seating, 25-foot-tall poles, memorial pavers, 2-foot-tall cultured stone walls, and various tree and shrub plantings. He said there were no engineering issues and said a lease agreement has been established with the township.
Township Councilman Ken Bressi, who sits on the Planning Board, is the vice president of the Jackson Township Veterans Memorial Garden Inc., a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization. Bressi said the organization has a 50-year lease for the property at a cost of $1 a year to the township.
“The memorial is dedicated to all veterans who have served,” Bressi said. “It is not for any one war or one service. It is here to honor all veterans.”
Bressi thanked the engineers and everyone else who has been involved with the project so far. He said 2011 will be a busy year moving forward with the memorial.
Landscape architect Michael Piga, of French and Parello, described the property that has been selected as the home of the memorial as being on a triangular-shaped corner with Jackson Mills Lake in the background. The memorial will consist of a 19.5-foot-tall structure that will be about 31 feet long, he said.
Piga said the Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard and Air Force will be honored at the memorial. The flags of the United States, New Jersey and Jackson Township will fly on flagpoles.
There will be a 2-foot-tall cultured stone wall with colors representing fallen heroes and what they fought for, Piga said. The architect said no trees will be removed from the site, but the area will be spruced up and some trees will be pruned.
The American flag will be lit 24 hours a day, but Bressi said the lighting will not be intrusive. The councilman said he would look into having Jackson Mills Lake cleaned up.
Charles Garofano, president of the Jackson Township Veterans Memorial Garden Inc., thanked the board members for their support.
“Probably a year or two from now you will all look back on this,” he said. “This will be an absolutely gorgeous park, and for all the right reasons.”
Garofano said anyone wishing to make a donation to the memorial can mail a check made out to the Jackson Township Veterans Memorial Garden Inc. to the Jackson Township Veterans Memorial Garden, P.O. Box 1499, Jackson, NJ 08527. For more information, call 732-833-2493.