Open Space Funding Request Heads to Freeholders

The township is one step closer to the possible award of $1.859 million in county open space funding after a hearing before a county committee Monday night.

Township Committee representatives, Administrator Robert Shannon and members of the public addressed the  Bergen County Trust Fund Advisory Committee, which has recommended that Wyckoff be awarded the funds to facilitate the purchase of the former Russell Farms, which is slated for development. 

"Russell Farms is an important part of the history of our area. Because of this history and the possibility of preserving it, this open space application has gathered great excitement in the township of Wyckoff with our citizens," Shannon told the volunteer committee, which forwards recommendations on funding to the full Board of Freeholders.

Indeed, the advisory committee already has found Wyckoff worthy of open space money, after vetting an application submitted last year and conducting site visits themselves. Robert Abbatomarco, trust fund administrator, and John DeRienzo, chair of the advisory committee, have said that the freeholders will vote next month on whether to approve the committee's recommendations.

Monday's hearing was purely to solicit comment on the many municipal open space and preservation projects slated for funding, and was attended mostly by elected officials and administrators throughout various Bergen County towns.

All present delivered impassioned presentations on the worthiness of their projects, with Wyckoff's government represented by Shannon, Mayor Rudy Boonstra, Deputy Mayor Kevin Rooney and Committeeman Chris DePhillips. Committeemen David Connolly and Brian Scanlan could not attend due to business commitments, although Scanlan was represented by his wife, Gail, and daughter, Anna-dora.

Shannon noted that the tract, just off the intersection of Russell and Sicomac avenues, is "one of the last remaining parcels in Wyckoff.

"It's the perfect piece of property to preserve," the administrator said.

DePhillips echoed Shannon's comments, saying Russell Farms has long attracted people to the township. "Your recommendation would be a bold move to preserve this tract. This tract has encouraged many people from outside of Wyckoff to move into Wyckoff; I was one of those who moved into this particular neighborhood ... it drew me and my kids and my family to this area. If you can do anything to give us a fighting chance to preserve it, it would be greatly appreciated," he said.

Scanlan wrote, "In preserving this property, we celebrate the history of agriculture in Bergen County and also protect the headwaters of the Goffle Brook," in a letter delivered by his daughter, Anna-dora.

Rooney told the committee that Russell Farms is "intricate to Wyckoff's community," while Boonstra noted that the recommendation for funding "will put us in a great position... (to) keep it preserved for the future generations of Wyckoff."

Favorable approval from the freeholders would only be the next hurdle in getting the property preserved, however. The land, which was a working farm and apple grove, is slated for the construction of homes by Barrister Home Construction Inc., the developer of the Deep Brook home project. Barrister owner Robert Milanese said Monday that there is no deal to sell the land to the township, although he said the firm would listen and negotiate in "good faith" if Wyckoff is in position to make an offer.

For now, Milanese said Barrister intends to begin environmental remediation on the site, which had long been treated with pesticides, as soon as the firm receives further instruction from the Department of Environmental Protection.

If Wyckoff is awarded the open space funding, it would have 18 months to use the $1.859 million, Abbatomarco has said.

The Open Space Trust Fund will not fully finance a preservation project, the fund administrator has said. Shannon said today that should the township be in position to purchase the farm, it would have the option of using money from the municipal open space fund and/or municipal budget to finance the balance of the purchase price.

The municipal fund was established at the ballot in the fall of 2006 after a petition drive supported by the Friends of Wyckoff. Shannon said approximately $900,000 will have been collected via taxation by the end of 2010.

Elizabeth Calabrese, a freeholder who sits on the advisory committee, promised the municipal representatives Monday that she would "very aggressively petition these grants" to the full freeholder board. Freeholder John Driscoll, who was in the audience, commended all those present for "making your communities better."