Dear Stafford Township Resident;
We are pleased to provide this Fall 2007 edition of our Stafford Township Newsletter to you, which highlights and describes happenings, events and projects taking place in our Township. As the summer fades into fall and children head back to school, we realize it may be difficult for you to keep up with what is going on in our town so I hope that our newsletter is yet another way for you to get information. In addition to our newsletter, which is distributed in the Spring and Fall of each year, we maintain and update information on a daily basis on our Township website at www.twp.stafford.nj.us and on our local Comcast cable system access channel 22 which includes an information scroll that runs continuously. I have highlighted some of the more timely issues below.
In our last Newsletter I reported on our effort to update our Township Master Plan. Our Township Planning Board members worked very hard on this and the Board has now completed their work. A final public hearing was held by the Planning Board in June and the newly revised Master Plan was adopted. We greatly appreciate the input we received from residents and civic associations and we have incorporated that input in the final document where appropriate. Based on the final content of the Master Plan, there will be certain changes to the Township zoning ordinances that will be introduced over the next several months. Suffice to say that the new Master Plan recommends a reduction in the size of our Regional Growth Center, and the population projection for the ultimate build out of our Township is less now than it was in our previous Master Plan. Further, the Master Plan recommends a continuation and expansion of our very successful Open Space Preservation program and sets a goal for the Township to preserve 60% of all township property for open space. Currently 51% of all of the land area in the Township is set aside for open space preservation and is owned by either the federal, state, or local government. We believe that we can achieve the 60% goal and, as a matter of fact, will be adding over 570 acres of property to our open space preservation program this year alone by virtue of the requirements contained in our Memorandum of Agreement with the Pinelands Commission relative to our landfill closure project.
The newsletter also includes an article updating our residents on the progress thus far of our landfill closure/business park redevelopment project. Substantial and significant progress has been made to date on the closing and capping of both the “licensed” and “unlicensed” landfills located in and adjacent to the Business Park. This project, which is on schedule, is being completed at no cost to our residents as part of a redevelopment agreement with the Walters Group which is more fully described in the enclosed article. We are projecting that the first retail buildings will be completed on or about July 1st of 2008, which means that ALL landfill closure activities will be completed prior to that date. One of the most recent issues being discussed pertains to the possible use of wind and solar energy to provide power for the redevelopment project. We are exploring this issue with the NJDEP and Pinelands Commission along with the redeveloper and are excited about the possibilities that may exist to not only provide energy to the retail buildings but also possibly to our township building (Dept. of Public Works) located in the business park area as well. A “test” windmill will be constructed in the area this year and tests will be taken to see if adequate energy can be generated to make the project financially feasible.
Certainly no discussion about the recent events in Stafford Township would be complete without a reference to the recent forest fire that engulfed parts of Warren Grove and threatened other parts of our township and adjacent towns as well in May of this year. I previously issued a statement on behalf of the residents and the governing body of Stafford Township expressing the sincere appreciation of the township to the emergency personnel who were responsible for protecting the lives and properties of Stafford Township residents during the forest fire that occurred last spring. I specifically singled out the many volunteer fire fighters, EMS personnel, police officers, and State Forest Fire Service personnel who literally risked their lives to save the lives and property of Stafford Township residents. Without question, this was a Herculean effort on their part to stand in harm’s way to protect us, and we are all indebted to them. Our personnel stood side by side with personnel from all over the State of New Jersey in fighting this forest fire and protecting our lives and they are to be commended for a job well done.
We have included a separate article on the forest fire, our critique of the events, and a new policy that has been put into place for any future emergencies to keep the public better informed. We have a new “Reverse 9-1-1” system that has the capability to inform the public on a more expedited basis and that system is more fully described in the enclosed article.
In addition to a forest fire, as most of you will undoubtedly recall, we also endured a “500-year” storm event this past year in September 2006. The unprecedented storm highlighted certain areas of the township where additional drainage facilities were needed. To that end and consistent with our promise to our residents, two separate and large drainage projects have begun in Ocean Acres and in Beach Haven West which are designed to address the flooding conditions and prevent storm water from backing up into homes and businesses. Both of these projects are large in scope and will take approximately 4 months to complete. We have included a separate article on these projects as well for anyone seeking more information.
If after reviewing any of this information you have any questions, please contact our office at 609-597-1000 ext. 8515 or 8559. You may also send an e-mail directly to our Township Administrator at any time at admin@twp.stafford.nj.us.
Sincerely,
Carl W. Block Mayor