MARLBORO – The Township Council has adopted an ordinance authorizing the purchase of a 43-acre parcel on Pleasant Valley Road for the purpose of preserving open space.
The site, known as Golden Dale Farm, was owned by Marilyn McCarron before she died. According to Councilwoman Patti Morelli, McCarron’s heirs approached township officials with the idea of preserving the property for land conservation.
With this piece of property the township will not only be preserving a farm, but also a beautiful historic home from the 1900s, Morelli said.
Marlboro officials are going to purchase the farm and preserve it through New Jersey’s farmland preservation program known as the Planning Incentive Grant (PIG). The grant is a joint partnership among the state, county and municipality for purchasing the development rights.
The purchase of the development rights, if completed, would ensure that Golden Dale Farm would never be developed for residential use.
Last year Marlboro qualified for $1 million through the state program, according to Morelli. This 43-acre parcel would be the first farm in Marlboro to go through the PIG program. The council action came at the Jan. 25 meeting.
The council also adopted an ordinance that changes the fees for commuter parking lots. The fee to purchase a permit to park in the commuter lots will go from $8.33 per month ($100 a year) to $10 per month ($120 a year).
In other business, the council passed a resolution consenting to Mayor Robert Kleinberg’s appointment of Gary Shapiro, of Shapiro and Sternlieb, LLC, as the attorney for the Marlboro Ethics Board. Shapiro’s contract is for a term of one year and is for an amount not to exceed $3,000.
Township Attorney Andrew Bayer said his firm worked with the ethics board to gain approval from the state Department of Community Affairs to adopt a more stringent code than the state’s ethics code.
Bayer said now that the code has been approved and the local ethics board is up and running it would be a conflict for him to represent the ethics board in the event that a complaint is filed against an elected or appointed official. Bayer said since he is the township attorney he could not represent that individual and the ethics board at the same time.
Bayer noted that the members of the ethics board have voiced their approval for Shapiro’s appointment. He said Shapiro will attend monthly meetings of the panel and representing the board in the event that a complaint is filed against a municipal official.
– Tali Israeli