EAST WINDSOR: Township leases its farmland

By David Kilby, Special Writer
   EAST WINDSOR — Farmland on Etra Road, owned by the municipality, has been made available for agricultural cultivation.
   In an effort to help preserve the township’s precious farmland, East Windsor has leased two properties for farming, opening up more than 55 acres for agricultural use.
   Farmers from Monroe and Millstone offered bids on the properties on Dec. 12. As a result, East Windsor will be receiving more than $7,000 of extra income per year over the next five years from the farm leases.
   In 2012, the township placed bids for the lease of two township-owned properties on Etra Road, one that is 40 acres, of which 28.5 acres is farmable, and another that is 121 acres, of which 28.8 is farmable, according to the resolutions authorizing the leases.
   ”We had authorized going out to bid for open-space properties. This works out to be a great arrangement for East Windsor,” Mayor Janice Mironov said at the Dec. 18 Township Council meeting, when the leases were authorized by the council. “This allows the properties to be farmed, and results in income for the township.”
   The sole bid received for the 121-acre property was that of New Sun Sang Farm Inc. on Millstone Road in Millstone Township. The bid was for $2,304 per year for the next five years.
   The highest bid received for the 40-acre property was that of Stanley Skeba, of Skeba Farms LLC, located on Wycoff Mill-Applegarth Road in Monroe, for $4,873 a year from 2013 through 2017.
   Earlier this month, at East Windsor Township’s reorganization meeting, Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes said East Windsor has managed to preserve more farmland than any other municipality in the county.
   Mr. Hughes said he commended the township mayor for managing to keep such a balance between development and open space.