October 21, 2003  

NEWS RELEASE

For immediate release
For further information, please contact Stephen Mountain at 543-4555

Mendham Township Open Space Question on November Ballot

On the November 4^th 2003 ballot Mendham Township residents will be asked to vote to repeal the sunset provision on the Township Open Space Trust.  The sunset provision calls for the elimination of the Township open space tax in 2008.  Elimination of the open space tax means that funding for the Township’s Open Space Trust Fund will end in 2008. The open space tax was overwhelmingly approved by voters in 1993 and currently raises four and one half cents per $100 assessed valuation.

“The Township Open Space Preservation program has been very successful over the past decade and the open space tax that the voters themselves have asked for is a critical component of this success,” stated Mayor Robert Pierson.  The Mayor added, “Without the tax, such jewels as the India Brook Park (formerly the Seeing Eye property), the Burnett Brook Preserve and Buttermilk Falls Preserve would have all been subdivided into residential housing developments.”  In addition to the nearly 1,000 acres preserved for parks, the Open Space Trust has provided numerous other benefits to our community including facilities for active recreation such as soccer and baseball, preservation of the Township’s scenic and historic heritage and the protection of groundwater aquifers and potable water quality.

The goals of the Township Open Space program are still far from achieved.  The Township Master Plan calls for the continuation of the Township policy of balancing well planned development with strategic land preservation in the years to come.  A fully funded Open Space Trust is essential to the achievement of these goals.  A yes vote to repeal the sunset provision will ensure that the Trust remains in place until the Township’s land preservation goals have been completed.