Freedom Fest setting up at the Horse Park of New Jersey FILE PHOTO UPPER FREEHOLD — The past year was fairly uneventful for this rural community until November, when it received state and national attention for its reaction to a possible medical marijuana growing facility coming into town.
January: LoriSue Horsnall Mount became the first female mayor in township history. Bob Faber was elected deputy mayor by the governing body. The township appointed Richard Coppola as its Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) representative in a 3-2 vote at the Jan. 6 reorganization meeting. Committeemen Robert Frascella and Stan Moslowski Jr. voted against hiring Coppola.
The Planning Board voted to hire its conflict planner, Alliance Environmental in Hillsborough, as the regular planner.
Mayor Mount noted at the Jan. 20 Township Committee meeting that during the snow emergency in the last week of the year, township employees received calls from residents using “some colorful language” and berating people trying to help them. She said there should be a policy that precludes employees from helping residents that do not treat them with respect.
February: The Upper Freehold Regional School District anticipates having to cut almost $2 million in services even if it privatizes transportation, increases activity fees and raises the tax levy during the 2011-12 school year.
Superintendent of Schools Dick Fitzpatrick and Business Administrator Diana Schiraldi presented a budget update at the Board of Education’s Feb. 2 meeting. Thus far, the school district estimates needing $33.8 million for the 2011-12 school year, which amounts to $1.3 million more than the 2010-11 budget.
Tractor Supply Co., a major farm and ranch supply company, opened in the township.
The township plans to sue Allentown if the borough does not pay its fair share of fire service costs. Township Administrator Dianne Kelly hand-delivered a letter to the borough on Feb. 22. The letter contained an invoice for what the township calculated as Allentown’s fire service costs for the past five years, a request for the borough to increase its annual contribution to the Hope Fire Company by $50,000 and a fire sharedservices agreement for 2011.
In light of the state-mandated 2 percent budget cap, the township remained on the fence about replacing municipal employees who recently retired or resigned. The governing body accepted “with regret” the retirement and resignations of several employees at the Feb. 17 meeting. When asked about replacing the employees, Mayor Mount responded, “I don’t know if we have the answers. All options are on the table.”
Equine veterinarian, standardbred breeder and lifelong resident Dr. S. Perrine Dey died unexpectedly at the age of 74. A man of many accomplishments, at the time of his death he served as chairman of the Board of Health and president of the Horse Park of New Jersey.
March: The budget introduced March 17 would increase municipal taxes $7.70, a 1 percent increase, for the average homeowner. Under the proposed budget, a house assessed at the township’s average of $495,000 would have a municipal tax bill increase from $814 to $821.70.
April: The mayor and deputy mayor voted against the 2011 municipal budget at theApril 14 Township Committee meeting. Under the budget, which passed 3-2, the average home assessed at $446,215 has an estimated annual municipal tax increase of $11.22, or about 3 cents per day.
Mayor Mount said she voted against the budgetbecauseitcontaineda2percent raise for municipal employees. Deputy Mayor Faber said he voted against it for the same reason.
Almost 2,000 acres of land in Upper Freehold formerly operated as Princeton Nurseries is permanently preserved, at a cost of $27.8 million.
May: The Township Committee said it may pursue grants to aid in funding the development of the 31-acre Reed Park.
At the May 5 meeting, project engineer Patrick Jeffries of T&M Associates said development of the park would cost a total of $1.17 million and could be split into different sections. However, he said, phasing could not start without permit approval. The township has owned the park, currently used by various local sports teams, since 2004.
TheAllentown Borough Council and the Upper Freehold Township Committee decided to cut the proposed Upper Freehold Regional School District budget by $90,420.
In theApril 27 election, the budget question failed, with 460 residents voting yes, and 619 voting no. The governing bodies of both towns met with school district officials to review the spending plan at Allentown High School May 16.
The school district proposed a $33 million budget for the 2011-12 school year. The spending plan relied on collecting $18.5 million in taxes from Allentown and Upper Freehold. The decision to reduce the budget resulted in a tax levy of $18.4 million.
June: Republican Robert Frascella, the sole candidate for the Township Committee in the primary, received 103 votes. No Democrats were on the ballot for the one available position.
Residents living near Reed Park came before the governing body asking questions regarding the relocation of the annual Freedom Fest Fair to the site.
July: Alleging that the borough of Allentown has interfered with Freedom Fest, Committeeman Steve Alexander said Upper Freehold will scrutinize the borough’s Harvest Festival more than it has in the past. Mount said Monmouth County continues to receive phone calls about fair issues for which it has no jurisdiction. She took issue with Allentown officials calling the power company instead of fair officials to complain about fair signs on utility poles.
Although some members of the governing body questioned the need for certain items, the Township Committee unanimously approved a $1.7 million bond ordinance. The bulk of the bond, $1.1 million, is earmarked for the development of Reed Park, including construction of a building and parking lots, landscaping, relocation of a softball field and creation of a walking trail .
A long-simmering dispute between Upper Freehold Township and neighboring Allentown over payments for shared fire services may end up in court. The township filed a complaint against the borough with state Superior Court in Freehold on July 14. The complaint demands a trial by jury with respect to the fire service payment issues. Allentown received notice of the filing July 20.
August: Township officials amended land-use regulations for a housing development on its border with Allentown despite opposition from the borough. The ordinance, which passed in a 2-1 vote at theAug. 4 Township Committee meeting, will help the township satisfy its COAH obligation. The township received $10,270 for hosting the Freedom Fest State Fair at Reed Park. The town rented the property along Route 526 to fair organizers for six days in July in exchange for $10,000 or 20 percent of the event’s net proceeds, whichever amount was determined to be greater. Upper Freehold received the money Aug. 4 from Freedom Fest State Fair President Nick DeMauro.
A 400-acre section of the 770- acre Perretti Farms in Upper Freehold Township, the largest standardbred breeding operation in the state, is on the market for $15 million. Farm owner William J. Perretti has also announced a dispersal of the farm’s equine inventory over a two-year period starting in November. Two Department of Public Works employees were injured and a township truck was destroyed in an accident during Hurricane Irene.
September: Be prepared. That was a message Mayor Mount stressed during an examination of the township’s and residents’ response to Hurricane Irene. At the Sept. 15 Township Committee meeting, Mount said people who live in the country must prepare for situations like the hurricane by purchasing batteries and filling cars with gas and bathtubs with water. She also urged residents to buy a generator, if possible.
October: The Planning Board approved the new buildout analysis in a 6-2 vote at its Oct. 25 meeting. The township measures 47.1 square miles totaling 30,144 acres, of which 13,864 acres could still be developed. Current zoning requires no fewer than 6 acres in the agricultural/residential zone or no fewer than 10 acres in the rural agriculture zone for the development of one residential lot. This zoning would allow for the development of 2,672 more residential units before full buildout, according to the analysis.
November: Three members of Upper Freehold Township’s Open Space and Farmland Preservation Committee, including the chairwoman, resigned.
Chairman Liz Kwasnik, Kathy Ricci and Audrey Wendolowski submitted their resignations to the governing body. The volunteers said they left their posts to fulfill other obligations they have at home, work and elsewhere in the community.
In the Nov. 8 general election, Dr. Robert Frascella won his second three-year term on the Township Committee, receiving or 96.82 percent of the 911 votes cast.
In response to a proposed medical marijuana farm in the township, the governing body directed special counsel Eric Bernstein at the Nov. 22 meeting to draft an ordinance for the Dec. 1 meeting that would not permit any business or entity operating contrary to federal law to do business in the municipality. The proposed ordinance was in response to the Breakwater Alternative Treatment Center’s filing of applications with the zoning board to open a facility to grow medical marijuana in the township.
December: The Cream Ridge Golf Club will no longer be operated by members of the Miscoski family, who founded the business.
In 2006, the N.J. Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) joined with Upper Freehold Township to purchase the tract on Route 539 for $14 million, with the DEP paying $10.5 million and the township contributing $3.5 million toward the purchase. William Miscoski received a lease to run it for the next five years. While he submitted a bid this year to continue to run the golf course, it was awarded by the state to Atlantic Golf Management Inc., Farmingdale, which also won a bid this year to operate the golf club at Fort Monmouth, and runs the state-owned Spring Meadow Golf Course in Farmingdale.
Members of the governing body shared their views regarding a medical marijuana facility opening in the township before unanimously voting for an ordinance to prohibit any activity noncompliant with federal law from going before the zoning, planning or other applicable entities in the township. Officials made their statements at the Dec. 15 Township Committee meeting held in the auditorium of the Stone Bridge Middle School.