CHESTER TWP. – Funding grants for a Roxbury Township Lake Management project and a Montville Township Trails Project were approved during the Highlands Water Protection and Planning Council’s April meeting held on Thursday, April 19.
The council also designated the Warren County town of Alpha Borough for Highlands Center designation and agreed to release a set of policy standards for warehousing in the Highlands Region.
In all, the council approved $256,650 in funding grants for highlands projects this month. Roxbury Township will receive $113,650, Montville Township will receive $73,000 for trails planning and Hunterdon County will receive $70,000 for a GIS Parcel Update project.
The Roxbury Township funds will be used in the opening steps of initiating the dredging of Landing Channel on Lake Hopatcong. The channel has not been dredged since 1990 and the plan is to find a beneficial reuse for the sediment.
The technical specifications for the application were designed by Princeton Hydro which has done multiple projects for Roxbury and Lake Hopatcong. The application was authorized by Roxbury’s Council on Feb. 28.
“Of all the work planned to improve the water quality, in Lake Hopatcong the dredging of Landing Channel was the third highest priority,’’ said Roxbury Township Manager John Shepherd, who attended the meeting.
The ecological component will include compiling data on wetlands assessment, macro invertebrates, aquatic plans and fishery. The engineering part of the project will look at sediment sampling and planning and logistics.
Fred Lubnow, Princeton Hydro’s Senior Technical Director of Ecological Services, told the council he was excited that there was the possibility of re-using the dredging materials for beneficial re-use. Some organization have used dredged material for habitat creation, restoration of beach nourishment, land fill cover and land site remediation.
“This is a pretty unique project,’’ Lubnow said. “As far as I’m familiar with beneficial reuse that almost always happens along the coast. This would be one of the first beneficial reuse projects to create habitat by using existing sediments in a waterway in a fresh water system. Maybe the first time in New Jersey.’’
That would include the creation of a floating island which was an existing island that was part of the lake in the past where cranberries actually grew.
“We are looking at recreating some of the habitat. We want to do assessments of the aquatic community to see if we can create some fishery habitat and maybe some recreational use associated with that.’’
The next phase after this would be permitting, design and implementation of the channel.
Nick Marucci, township engineer and director of public works for Montville Township, thanked the council in advance for the trail funding.
“It’s a project that our governing body is very excited about,’’ Marucci said. “They can’t wait to get started on it. I just want to thank you for entertaining our request.’’
The proposed route is about 7,500 feet long and 6 feet wide. It will connect South Abbott Road with the downtown region close to the Towaco Train Station and travel through preserved, municipal-owned land in their Highlands planning area. The Township proposes creating gravel parking lots at both ends of the trail.
Meanwhile, Hunterdon County is looking to update existing parcel data for municipalities there. County planning staff will provide digital subdivision/site plan information as the initial source of data for each parcel. A consultant will conduct a thorough review of each Hunterdon municipal parcel data layer and cross reference to deeds and easements. The project will create an accurate base map reflecting parcel data throughout the county.
The single resolution for the three grants was unanimously approved 10-0, which included a yes from Hopatcong Mayor Michael Francis, who is a long time council member.
Alpha
The Council also approved the Warren County town of Alpha Borough for Planned Conformance for Highlands Center designation. A Highlands Center is an area where development and redevelopment is planned and encouraged. Highlands Centers are intended to support balance in the Highlands Region by providing for sustainable economic growth while protecting natural and cultural resources.
Alpha is one of the smallest municipalities in the Highlands area. It covers 1.7 square miles with a population of 2,368 people in 2020. The designation was approved 10-0.
Warehousing
Although they didn’t vote on it, Council members gave their blessing to a set of policy standards for warehousing in the Highlands Region. The report will be posted on its website this week and the Council is extremely concerned how much excessive warehousing will effect the Highlands Region and the environment.
“It’s extraordinarily important,’’ said Council Executive Director Ben Spinelli. “We are not here to say that all warehousing is bad. Certainly warehousing that is not appropriately located can be extremely destructive to the resources of the region. We have to make certain when decisions are made about where we are going to build and where we are not going to build, that they respect those resources and that it is done in the correct manner.’’
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