Toms River Floats $4M Plan to Buy Camp Albocondo, Lakewood Rd. Lot

The Toms River township council voted Tuesday night to introduce a plan to purchase Camp Albocondo, a former campground that has been the source of previous controversies in the township.

The campground will be purchased for $4.1 million, $2.2 million of which will be funded through the township's open space fund with the remainder coming from Ocean County. The council also voted in favor of purchasing 2373 Lakewood Road for $2.25 million through the open space fund.

"We believe it is a good purchase," said Council President Maria Maruca. "We’re purchasing it with the county. It has been something that has been on our radar for a long time."

Camp Albocondo, located on Whitesville Road, was once targeted for purchase by former Superintendent of Schools Michael Ritacco and former members of the Board of Education who wanted to build a school there in order to support a full-day kindergarten expansion.

The plan, circulated in 2007, was scrapped after a public outcry over its then-$7.5 million price tag as well as its location near the former Ciba-Geigi site.

The campground is currently owned by the Trust for Public Land, Maruca said. It has been largely abandoned for the better part of the last decade. The nonprofit group purchased it in 2013 for $4.2 million, according to public records.

The plan faced minimal opposition during Tuesday's council meeting, and Maruca strongly signaled the governing body would not waver in its desire to purchase the site.

The council is "staunchly behind the purchase," Maruca said.

The plan, in the form of an ordinance, will be up for a public hearing – likely at the next scheduled council meeting – before a final vote will be taken on the purchase.