Press Release 7/11/17

TRENTON – Senator Joe Vitale and Assemblyman Craig Coughlin (Both D-Middlesex) applaud the recent awarding of Green Acres funding to local towns in their district for community improvement projects.

“These grants are significant for our municipalities as they help complete long-desired projects,” said Vitale (D-Middlesex). “All three projects will improve the quality of life for local residents as this program was intended to accomplish.”

“Open space and recreation are important to New Jerseyans and their quality of life,” said Coughlin (D-Middlesex). “This is welcomed funding in our district that will help to improve our communities through preservation and redevelopment projects.”

The Garden State Preservation Trust’s approved nearly $81 million in funding for projects that will enhance the quality of life in New Jersey by improving and expanding parks, protecting and conserving open space, increasing public access to waterways, and enhancing land for public enjoyment.

Three of five towns awarded matching grants in Vitale and Coughlin’s District will receive:

• Middlesex County — Perth Amboy Arthur Kill Waterfront

Middlesex County proposed the remediation and redevelopment of a brownfield site in Perth Amboy City into a public park. The property is located at Washington and High Streets, on the Arthur Kill waterfront. The project will include a football/soccer field, a baseball field, a playground, and a public access walkway at the shoreline. Associated amenities will include a parking lot and comfort station. The project will aim to fulfill the City’s need for additional playing fields and park lands described in the City’s Master Plan Recreation Element while enhancing opportunities for residents to access the waterfront.

$ 1,250,000 Matching Grant Award for Park Development

• Carteret Borough — Arthur Kill Waterfront Park Phase III

The Borough of Carteret proposed to acquire property along Roosevelt Avenue and Waterfront Access Road. This five acre parcel, an existing brownfield, will be rehabilitated to provide open space for public use. This acquisition will expand the existing Arthur Kill Waterfront Park that currently contains a volleyball court, mini golf course, comfort station and playground. Future plans for the expansion include a riverwalk, an observation deck, a fixed pier, a floating dock, a boat launch, a pier extension, an urban beach, a Ferris Wheel, an outdoor amphitheater, and improved landscaping throughout the site so the area can be used for recreational purposes such as walking, running, and cycling.

$ 1,000,000 Matching Grant Award for Land Acquisition

• Woodbridge Township — Heards Brook Stewardship

The Township of Woodbridge intends to restore and enhance wetland and terrestrial uplands in a current Blue Acres buyout area. Blue Acres buys flood-damaged properties, demolishes the houses, and restores the property to open space. This stewardship project would increase the area’s stormwater resiliency as part of a floodplain and open space restoration plan developed by the Township and Rutgers Cooperative Extension. The project area includes an existing playground, and adjacent Green Acres funded open space, which is currently separated by a fence and drainage ditch. This project includes two phases: 1) reconstructing the existing drainage ditch to a more natural curvature and reclaiming floodplain habitat along the new channel and 2) restoring 1 acre of Blue Acres property into a formal native tree border and warm season meadow.

$ 164,735 Matching Grant Award for Stewardship Project

Green Acres funding allows governments and nonprofits to leverage millions of additional preservation dollars through matching federal, state, county and local funds, as well as from private sources.