FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP — The members of the Township Committee in Freehold Township will purchase and preserve a small open space parcel on Siloam Road.
Siloam Road (Route 527) begins at Monmouth Road (Route 537) at the border of Freehold Township, Manalapan and Millstone Township and eventually becomes Cedar Swamp Road in Jackson.
During a meeting on Oct. 11, the committee members adopted an ordinance that authorizes the purchase of a 0.51-acre property at 52 Siloam Road.
According to the ordinance, municipal officials negotiated with the property owner and agreed to purchase the property for $50,000, contingent upon title review and receipt of funds to purchase the parcels by bond, loan or grant.
The ordinance states that township officials determined it to be in the public interest to purchase the property for open space and other public purposes.
The 0.51-acre property at 52 Siloam Road that will be purchased is near a 1-acre property at 55 Siloam Road and a 5.76-acre property at 120 Turkey Swamp Road (rear), both of which Freehold Township officials will purchase for preservation as open space and other public purposes.
In other business on Oct. 11, the committee members appointed Sophia Shalaby of Sophia Shalaby, LLC, as Freehold Township’s Municipal Court public defender. Shalaby will hold the position through Dec. 31, after which she may be reappointed by the governing body.
Shalaby succeeds Raymond Santiago in the position of public defender. Santiago was recently sworn in as the Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor and his appointment in that office required Freehold Township officials to appoint a new public defender.
Finally, the committee members awarded two two-year contracts to Dancer Farms, Millstone Township, and Gibson Farms, Freehold Township, for the disposal of leaves.
Dancer Farms will be paid $4 per cubic yard in 2022 and 2023.
Gibson Farms will be paid $4.50 per cubic yard in 2022 and $5 per cubic yard in 2023.
The maximum amount of leaf removal will be 9,000 cubic yards per year, according to a resolution.
Sigismondi Greenhouse III submitted a bid of $6 per cubic yard in 2022 and 2023, according to the resolution. Dancer Farms and Gibson Farms were awarded the contracts as the lowest bidders. According to the resolution, the estimated cost of leaf removal will be $243,000.