Twp. will bond $1.6M for McCormack Farm Ordinances set funding for acquisition of 31-acre tract BY JAMIE ROMM Staff Writer MIDDLETOWN - The Township Committee is moving forward with plans to purchase the development rights to the McCormack Farm. According to the proposed bond ordinance that was introduced at the Nov. 27 Township Committee meeting, the township will provide "an appropriation of approximately $1.6 million for purchase of easement/development rights of property known as McCormack Farm." The ordinance authorizes the issuance of approximately $1.5 million in bonds or notes by the township for financing part of the appropriation. A second ordinance introduced authorized the acquisition of the property, which is located on Tindall Road. Both measures passed by a 3-to-1 vote, with Deputy Mayor Pamela Brightbill as the lone no vote and Committeeman Patrick Short absent. Acquisition of the farm has been voted on and discussed in the past, but the current vote officially made Middletown's intent to purchase the 31.3-acre property clear. "We voted on sort of an intention to purchase this property in the past," Township Attorney Bernard Reilly said. "Now we have to formally present the financial terms." The development easement would be purchased in partnership with the New Jersey and Monmouth County boards of agriculture for a total of $4.65 million. Middletown will contribute $1,627,823, the state will contribute $1,898,750 and the county will put up $1,123,427. "The Monmouth County Agricultural Board kind of mediates the purchase in the three-way purchase," Reilly said. "They oversee the finance situation." Jane McCormack and her children, Leah and William, would still own the farm. The easement is a permanent one and would apply to current and future owners of the approximately 31-acre tract. Under the agreement, the land could not be sold to a developer, and must remain as a farm under all future owners. With current zoning laws, the farm could have been sold and subdivided to build some 45 homes. Approval of this ordinance would prevent any building on the land. In June 2006, following a closed session that lasted well over an hour, the Middletown Township Committee voted 4-1 in favor of paying over $1.6 million toward a development easement to preserve the McCormack Farm. The township's share of the purchase will be funded from the voter-approved 2-cent municipal open space tax, and the state and county share from their respective Farmland Preservation programs. Since Middletown established its Open Space Preservation Program in 1999, it has preserved nearly 300 acres of open space. Land has been preserved using multiple preservation methods, including joint agreements, acquisitions, land swaps, donations, conservation easements and farmland preservation. According to Committeeman Thomas Hall, who was mayor in 2006 when the issue first came up, there would be no public use on this land. "The public will not be permitted on the property," Hall said. "The McCormacks will still be using the land so there will be no benefit to the public except that the farm will continue to function." The McCormack family has farmed the land since the mid-1880s.