08/20/08

TITLE: RUMOR STARTLES KINGWOOD RESIDENTS - COUNTY POSITION ON PARK IS UNCHANGED
DESCRIPTION:
Time: 20:28:12

ARTICLE

HUNTERDON COUNTY - One has to wonder how these rumors get started   - 

On Tuesday evening a pack of ravenous Kingwood Residents stormed the Freeholder meeting and then were forced to become more upset as the Freeholders showed up 32 minutes late for their scheduled meeting and then kept the people waiting until 8:45 to vent their frustration over a rumor that is apparently without merit.

At the bottom of this is farmland/parkland preservation of a large parcel in Kingwood that has approval for 54 units. The County, Municipality and State have been working in tandem to make sure the land is preserved.

There is one potential snag, the freeholders put several conditions on the purchase and if those conditions are not met the resolution that they passed, by law, cannot go forward and thus the funding that would be there via the county no longer would - UNLESS - the board reopened the resolution that they passed and altered it in some manner, which is a distinct possibility if the state and the muni cannot get their act together.

Essentially there are three distinct parcels being sold by the owner who holds the development approval in his hand like the sword Excalibur, ready to strike if things do not go well. The county has committed to purchasing the largest of the possible if, and this is a big if, the other two parcels are purchased by the state and the muni, if the entire parcel is not going to be preserved, lets just say for hypothetical that the muni backs out, then the county wanted to reserve the right to back out as well, it’s a legal means of protection toward the end goal.

At the moment there is a snafu with one of the other parcels. The county stated last night, LOUD AND CLEAR, that they are still willing ready and waiting to do what they stated they would do.

So what's the problem with that you might ask. Well the people in the crowd kept asking the same question over and over - WHAT HAPPENS IF IN FACT ONE OF THE OTHER TWO PARCELS IS NOT SECURED - and the tone of the voice asking this very question seemed to indicate that they knew a problem was afoot. The Freeholders, who are not currently faced with that dilemma, obviously cannot answer the question as to what they would do should this happen, as negotiations and leverage would be lost. The group seemed to have a hard time grasping this.

The bottom line is that as of Tuesday evening the board was committed to upholding what they said they would do in the form they said they would do it. Any changes that may occur do to the other parties not being able to complete the agreed upon conditions would then open another box that would create an entire different set of funding circumstances and a lot more discussion on the matter.

It was nice to see some folks taking time - A LOT OF TIME IN THIS CASE - to look after their community.