State would have to approve the sale
By John Tredrea, Special Writer
West Amwell Township received one bid on a 130-acre township-owned preserved farm that was put up for auction last Friday, Township Clerk Lora Olsen said.
”We had one bid, at $407,900, from Leon Walters,” Ms. Olsen said Monday.
Mr. Walters also owns a farmland-assessed 18.6 acres on Brunswick Pike, according to records.
The bid was accepted Monday night by the Township Committee and must be approved by the State Agricultural Development Committee (SADC) before the sale can go through.
Under a deed restriction, the farm is permanently preserved for agricultural use. One residence is permitted on two of the 130 acres, which have frontage on Route 179 and Rocktown-Lambertville Road.
A structure on that two acres is “in need of extensive renovation,” a bid packet issued by the township in advance of last Friday’s auction said. The remaining 128-acre portion of the tract, known locally as the Toll/Coleman Farm, must be preserved as farmland.
The farm was purchased for preservation in March 2010 with $825,000 from the Hunterdon Land Trust Alliance and $675,000 from the township government.
A few days before the auction, Ms. Olsen said the land was being offered for sale “because the township doesn’t need to be in the land business. Selling the property would put it back on the tax rolls.”
The 130 acres includes agricultural fields and woodlands. Electricity and telephone service are available to the site. The property is qualified for farmland assessment, and annual real estate taxes are estimated at $7,147, the township’s bid packet said.

