HUNTERDON COUNTY, NJ - Restoration projects and land preservation in three Hunterdon County towns received funding on Dec. 2 from the county board of commissioners.
The board approved a $354,000 municipal grant to Readington Township for the purchase of the Stavola Property. The purchase was recommended by the county Parks and Open Space Advisory Committee.
The property, an old quarry site, straddles the Readington-Tewksbury town line.
Previously, the ounty issued a grant of $1.22 million to the Tewksbury Land Trust to purchase 105 acres of the Stavola property.
The county share is half of the total purchase price of $2.445 million.
Before that, the commissioners approved a contribution of $305,235 to the purchase of two parcels of the Stavola property in Readington Township, near the township’s Taylor’s Mill Historic District.
The total purchase price for the estimated 64 acres was $610,470.
The Taylor’s Mill Historic District is a 26-acre federally designated area centered on Taylor’s
Mill, a pre-Revolutionary War grist mill.
The board on Dec 2 also approved funds for two projects in Tewksbury.
First, the board approved a $186,000 grant for the purchase of the 100 Acre Wood property, an estimated 12 acres, upon the recommendation of the Parks and Open Space Advisory Committee.
The Tewksbury Land Trust is purchasing the land for $372,000. The county is allowed to contribute half the purchase price.
Second, the Tewksbury Land Trust received $140,000 for masonry and structural repair to the Hollow Brook stone arch bridge at the Hollow Brook Preserve, at 93 Fairmount Road East.
The grant award is conditioned on the installation of interpretive signage focused on the bridge’s historical significance.
The board also approved $86,678 for Lebanon Borough to make improvements to Holjes-Sheppard Memorial Park.
Lastly, the board approved a $90,000 historic preservation grant for the Tewksbury Township Public Library Association for the preservation of the Tewksbury Township Public Library.
The award of this grant is conditioned on the receipt of project authorization by the State Historic Preservation Office and associated detailed specifications for this project. The award is also conditioned on the installation of interpretive signage on the library grounds regarding the building’s history as Barnet Hall Academy.
The library association is in the middle of a $1 million restoration project that is aimed at shoring up the building.
The association listed the deficiencies as a building support is failing; main support beam is undersized; beam is supported on stone piles with no foundations; floor joists are undersized; rim joist over the basement is unsupported; West Wall is bowing; vertical framing member is broken; lintel over the group of four windows is inadequate; and a hinge condition exists between the first and second floors.