Bayshore towns awarded county open space grants

Keyport Borough and Middletown Township both received grant funding from the 2009 Monmouth County Open Space Trust Fund on Dec. 22.

Among the awards were $52,000 for the creation of a skate park on Division Street in Keyport and $250,000 for the development of two new ballfields and trails in partnership with the borough of Atlantic Highlands at the Conifer Tract baseball fields in Middletown Township.

“This program is a valuable tool to help municipalities maintain and improve the quality of life in their communities,” said Freeholder Lillian G. Burry, liaison to the county’s park system in a press statement. “The Open Space Trust Fund helps municipalities preserve open space and improve parkland by sharing the costs with the county. The program also complements the county’s overall commitment to land preservation for parks, recreation, open space and farmland.”

The county approved $2,357,000 in funds for 13 municipalities, according to a press release from Monmouth County. The county has 53 municipalities, and 21 towns applied for the funding by the Sept. 23 deadline.

Four grants for open space or park acquisition projects were awarded to Asbury Park, Fair Haven, Manalapan and Millstone.

Nine other municipalities, including Keyport and Middletown, were granted awards for park development and improvement. The other towns include Little Silver, Red Bank, Belmar, Eatontown, Brielle, Spring Lake and Neptune City.

The maximum amount of award funding for a project is $250,000.

Other Bayshore towns did not fare as well. At the Sept. 17 Holmdel Township Committee meeting, the township passed a public resolution and applied for county funding for Cross Farm Park landscaping and Bayonet Farm improvements. The township requested $300,000 that would be split between Cross Farm Park and Bayonet Farm. The township did not receive the grant in 2008 or 2009.

Applications for the 2010 municipal open space grant program will be available on May 1.

—Jacqueline Hlavenka