By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
WEST WINDSOR — Township Council introduced an ordinance Monday night that will allow it to purchase 35.4 acres of land at 174 Clarksville Road and 180 Clarksville Road for open space preservation.
Township Council has agreed to purchase the two parcels, which belong to Monroe Township resident Richard Cella, for $525,000. A public hearing on the ordinance is set for the council’s Aug. 3 meeting.
Funding for the purchase will come from West Windsor Township’s Open Space and Recreation Trust Fund. Money in that fund is generated by a 3-cent open space tax.
The township is in line to receive a $262,500 grant to cover half of the purchase price through the Mercer County Open Space Assistance program.
“I think it’s a good deal,” Township Council President Bryan Maher said Monday night. He added that the parcels would “tie into” other land that the township owns and has preserved for open space.
The Cella property is located within the Duck Pond Run drainage basin. The township’s open space plan calls for the preservation of properties along the four major stream corridors, of which the Duck Pond Run is the second largest stream.
Prior to World War II, the land was used mostly for pasture. Today, about half of the property is covered by low-land shrubs, and about one quarter is covered by low-land forest that consists mostly of red maple trees. The remainder is upland forest, mostly of oak trees.
Township resident Alison Miller commended township council for negotiating to purchase the property, and urged the council to vote to acquire it. If a trail is built on the property, it could be called the Moses Tatamy Trail, in honor of the 18th century Leni Lenape Indian chief who lived on the property, she said.
Chief Tatamy, who learned English, served as a negotiator between the Indians and the European settlers, Ms. Miller said, adding that “it would be wonderful to remember him” by naming a trail after the Indian chief.
