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Brick Receives 1.2 Million From State For Park Improvements
By Catherine Snipe
Five township parks in Brick are among the latest to receive upgrades with $1.2 million in state grants and loans. The state Department of Environmental Protection Green Acres program will provide Brick with a $600,000 grant and a matching $600,000 no-interest loan.
Parks receiving the improvement funds include Bernie J. Cooke Field, Frede Park, Veterans Field at Arrowhead Veterans of Foreign Wars, Drum Point Sports Complex and Angela Hibbard Park will receive the improvements, announced Mayor Joseph C. Scarpelli.
The award was the largest for any township in the state, he said. However, it was not the full amount the township applied for.
"We didn't receive as much as we put in for," Scarpelli said. "We'll probably have to prioritize a little bit."
The funding legislation signed by Gov. Jon S. Corzine on August 2, not only included the Green Acres money, but also Planning Incentive Grants and farmland preservation The Garden State Green Acres Preservation Trust Fund money, $80 million statewide, will help the state buy and develop land under its Green Acres program. The lands are set aside for recreation and conservation.
In addition, the township was awarded $600,000 in the state's Planning Incentive Grant (PIG) program, plus $150,000 in a no-interest loan to acquire open space. According to a township press release, the two no-interest loans will be paid back over the next 20 years.
"That's a credit to the emphasis this governor has paid to buying open space,"
The Brick Times, August 24, 2006, Page 3
Scarpelli said.
Nearly every county received some portion of funding through the bills. One round of funding gives $48 million statewide from the Garden State Farmland Preservation Trust Fund.
"In New Jersey, land preservation is outpacing development by a ratio of three to one, and today's announcement continues that impressive record," said Corzine in a prepared statement, promising more efforts to acquire and preserve more open space.
According to the legislation, the money comes in the form of grants to the counties and towns. The funding will pay for up to 80 percent of the cost to preserve easements on farmland.
T&M Associates of Middletown prepared the grant applications, Scarpelli said.
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