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Officials Lament End Of Nature Conservation Society
By Bill McLaughlin
Ocean County Freeholder John C. Bartlett called it both a sad and happy day for Ocean County, as he praised the Ocean Nature Conservation Society Wednesday on 40 years as a voice for resource conservation.
Bartlett said the sad part was that the organization was dissolving because it had done its work so well, conservation has become part of the mainstream way of life.
"You were in the business of educating this young freeholder," Bartlett said. "This organization said, 'We need to conserve and protect' the environment. It was a first and was very successful."
Bartlett traced the group's real emergence as a voice to be heard to the opening of Cattus Island Park recreation area 27 years ago.
"Here we were, opening a park without any new park employees," the longestserving current freeholder recalled. "I didn't know what we were going to do. I remember Pearl Schwartz coming to my office saying (the Ocean Nature Conservation Society) could provide volunteers to help open this center for the first summer and get this place going."
The group is also credited with lobbying for the 1.2 cent tariff on county taxes to fund open space preservation through the county Natural Lands Trust.
"When we put the question on the ballot, this organization went out and campaigned for it. And won," Bartlett said.
Bartlett said the organization's legacy was tied to the decision two decades ago to put tax money aside to ensure open spaces for future generations.
"So this is a dissolution party," Bartlett said as he
surveyed the dozen smiling
faces standing beside him. "I want to thank you for the
board members and the people of Ocean County."
Society President Paul Wnek, a former Dover Township councilman, said his group was empowered by the freeholders who had the foresight to recognize the future benefits.
"We could not have done this without the help of the freeholders," Wnek said. "A lot of things we ventured into would not be possible. Everything has a time. We're not going away."
Wnek noted the county vocational school has a curriculum of formal education this group wrote as it went along. Jan Larson and Schwartz also spoke of the mutual benefits the group had working with county government.
Freeholder Gerry Little noted that 8,000 acres had been saved from development in the intervening years, saying fully 41 percent of the Ocean County landmass is permanently preserved from development through federal, state and county ownership.
Bartlett summed up the group's effect on Ocean County by saying they were conservationists long before the term became part of the lexicon.
Freeholder: County
Cannot Buy All Open Space
After celebrating the conservationists' good deeds, the board held a public hearing on acquiring farmland through the Ocean County Trust Fund in Plumsted and Jackson to prevent development as housing.
During the public portion, Frank Kinney, chairman of the Save Barnegat Bay conservation group, asked the freeholders to buy the former Anchor Reef Marina for use as a public park.
"This could be the last chance," Kinney said, to save what he called an "indescribable" piece of land.
Freeholder Bartlett listened to his speech, then listed six current sites on Barnegat Bay the county has already turned into recreational areas. While sympathizing with the request, Bartlett said, "The county cannot be in the position that every time someone says so, we should buy land and put a park on it."
He then listed Cattus Island, Berkeley Island, Gull Island, Mill Creek Park and the fishing pier at Mantoloking Bridge as existing sites which offer breathtaking views of Barnegat Bay.
Freeholder Joseph H. Vicari, was mayor of Dover (now Toms River Township) in 1991 when the matter was first considered. Vicari said he and the late Tom Rankin were proponents of buying the land.
"When we were leaving the council, Tom (Rankin) said that the most disappointing day for him was when the township decided not to purchase that property," Vicari recalled. "At that time, (purchasing) was the right thing to do and it's still the right thing to do."
Vicari said the site was being considered, back in 1991, for a five-story national chain hotel and members of the council and the business sector wanted to put that and other attractive ratables on the site. He apologized for what became a passionate support of the idea by saying the ball was in the municipality's court.
"We don't go against a township's plans," Vicari said. "I still think it's a terrible mistake that there's no place for a town of 100,000 people to get together."
Vicari recalled that artist's renderings of what the site might look like hung in town hall for at least two or three years.
"I believe the county has done an extraordinary
job for the people who don't have
access to the water," Bartlett concluded. "(But) this is a Toms River Township project.
They're perfectly capable of doing this."
In other business, the board publicly thanked retiring Ocean County Superintendent of Ocean County Buildings and Grounds Vincent Delia for 27 years of service. Delia will be replaced by William A. Santos, who will begin a five-year term July 1.
The board also authorized applying for an FAA grant for $760,000 for phase two of the Robert J. Miller Airpark apron rehabilitation project.
Toms River resident Dennis Galante asked the freeholders to consider relocating the proposed wellness center from land between a township intermediate school and Ocean County College to another site, for safety reasons.
Galante said he was in favor of the wellness center but not the location, which he said could compromise the safety of students of both schools. He asked the board to consider a land swap so that the Toms River Board of Education might have room for future expansion.
"Hell freezes over before they'll take away the green way on Hooper," Bartlett said. "Not while I'm on this board."
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