HUNTERDON COUNTY
Bridgewater Courier News
EAST AMWELL – Ringoes is a quiet village where the loudest noise is the engine whistle of the Black River & Western Railroad.
The village, the oldest settlement in Hunterdon County dating back to when John Ringo built a tavern in the wilderness around 1720, may be enjoying a new life three centuries later.
The Hunterdon County freeholders have awarded East Amwell Township an $18,000 grant to support the revitalization of Ringoes.
The grant will assist efforts to revitalize Ringoes and encourage economic development in the township. East Amwell will be contributing $2,000 to the project.
“East Amwell’s Ringoes Village plan is the kind of project the that is in line with the goals of the county’s economic development grant program, which has been well received by our local governing bodies,” Freeholder Board Director Shaun Van Doren said.
The freeholders have given similar grants to Lambertville, Milford, Frenchtown, Franklin and Kingwood.
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“The grant for East Amwell is another major step taken this year in a series of moves by the Freeholder Board designed to help make Hunterdon competitive and investable, as the economy recovers,” Freeholder Matt Holt, the board’s Economic Development liaison, said. “The goal of these county funded projects is to help make the towns more attractive for investment, while maintaining the character of the community."
According to Hunterdon County Economic Development Director Marc Saluk, “Projects spurred from grants issued in 2019 are also wrapping up this year. Examples include the Borough of High Bridge, which enhanced its municipal website, and Raritan Township, which utilized grant funding for a planning and zoning review that is currently underway.”
The Ringoes Village Advisory Committee, created to guide the village’s revitalization efforts, has found that the Ringoes Village Study, created in 2014, requires updating to support East Amwell's current economic development vision.
East Amwell will also review the planning and zoning along the Route 202-31 corridor.
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Mike Deak is a reporter for MyCentralJersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.