Comments for inclusion in the final draft plan are being accepted through Jan. 31.
RARITAN TWP. -- The county's draft plan on how to spend money collected from its open space tax has been updated several times already, but on Tuesday night area residents wanted more.
"Here's this ambiguous document that's filled with screaming generalizations," said Beatrice Muir, a longtime committeewoman from Readington. "You should be specific. If you're not specific, the public is not going to trust you."
The plan was being discussed by the County Parks & Open Space Advisory Committee. Bill Millette, a senior planner with the county who helped draft the plan, said lots of people have already commented on it, and their comments fell into three main areas.
One concern was mention of the County Economic Development Strategy. "We took out all reference to the CEDS," Millette said. "Let's not muddy the waters." References to supporting the agriculture industry were also removed, he said.
Freeholders keep open space tax unchanged
A third area of concern was mention of a percentage of trust fund money being used for stewardship. "The trust fund plan can advocate that some trust fund dollars be used for that, but the board of Freeholders are the ones who allocate that percentage annually," Millette said.
"The word stewardship, used once before in a document by the freeholders, was used to destroy old-growth forests and parkland," Muir said. "I fear it once again could be used to reach goals that aren't in the public's interest."
Earle Steeves, chairman of the committee, said the word stewardship was a general term. "The big picture is, the county owns some land, and controls some land, and we should be taking care of it," he said.
The lack of specifics was a problem for many in the audience, including Jonathan Heller and Richard and Julia Allen, all of Readington.
"Why can't they put in this document approximately how much?" Richard Allen asked, referring to the percentages of trust fund money to be spent on acquisition and stewardship. "We need something to indicate clearly what can be done."
"The absence of your recommendation of percentages on how money is to be spent is glaringly a problem," Muir said. "Our community is going to be greatly concerned if, for example, this trust fund money is used to build a clubhouse at the golf course and pay off the debt on the taxpayers' back."
Voters pass open space amendment
Use of the trust fund is restricted by the language of the ballot questions that created the open space tax, county official said. Nick Corcodilos of Clinton Township said the plan should include that fact. "I urge you to make this document a reminder to the Freeholders of what the law is," he said.
"If you don't define terms carefully, the freeholders can say, 'We're looking at this plan, and the plan says stewardship.' There are towns where what the money is being spent on is changing."
Stewardship's always been allowed, Millette told the audience. "Statute requires that a plan be in place if you're going to spend money from the open space tax," he said. "That includes recreational facilities. The county had a few outdated plans that allowed us to do that," he said. 'With the update of the whole plan, we added in that element to make it explicitly clear we are in compliance with state statutes."
Acquisition "is such a focus there's never been a figure set for maintenance," he said. "It was project-specific funding. We don't need a percentage."
"When you open it up to maintenance, there are a lot of things that fall under that," Julia Allen said, urging careful definition of the term. She said the document "should be transparent, predictable and reliable."
Following a referendum in 2008, the fund can be used to support historic preservation efforts as well. "All the different entities that use this trust fund need that clarity," Allen said. She noted that the split of 95-percent for acquisition and 5-percent for culture has worked quite well.
Steeves assured the audience that their message about clarity was received. Comments on the draft plan are being accepted through Jan. 31 for inclusion in the final draft that will be presented to freeholders. "We want to get the final draft to the board of freeholders in February," Steeves said.
Comments will still be accepted after that, though they won't be reflected in the final draft document. There will be more chance to talk about the plan when it's in the freeholders' hands, and public hearing will be held before its final adoption.
Sallie Graziano may be reached at sgraziano@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SallieGraziano. Find The Hunterdon County Democrat on Facebook.