Smart Future grant awarded to Plumsted

PLUMSTED - The governor's office and the state Department of Community Affairs has informed the Township Committee that Plumsted has been awarded a $50,000 Smart Future grant to further implement smart growth strategies that provide new jobs while preserving open space, farmland and environmental resources.

According to Mayor Ron Dancer, this grant will also provide the funding to develop a community design plan that will assess Plumsted's natural and built infrastructure capacity, as well as a community vision for a vibrant downtown to maintain the township's rural character.

Only 23 municipalities were awarded Smart Future grants in a highly competitive statewide grant application process, according to the mayor.

Smart Future planning grants are part of the Smart Future initiative which promotes smart growth planning between municipalities and counties throughout New Jersey with funding from the DCA's Office of Smart Growth, said Dancer, who is also a member of the state Assembly.

The mayor said grants (funding without required paybacks) have helped the Township Committee maintain its ranking among Ocean County's 33 municipalities as having the lowest municipal tax bill ($347 in 2007), nearly four times lower than the countywide average of $1,327 for the municipal government purposes only of a total property tax bill.

In other news, a fireworks show, concert and arts festival will be held on July 7 at New Egypt High School, Evergreen Road. Festivities, including food, refreshments, pony rides, amusements and much more, will begin at 3 p.m., with the fireworks display beginning promptly at dusk. The fireworks display has been enhanced this year with the financial support of local business owners Greg and Ellie Goffredo's, All Star Disposal and Commerce Bank.

And, Dancer said he, along with state Assemblyman Joseph Malone and state Sen. Robert Singer have introduced legislation, A-4468, to require the state to spray and pay for gypsy moth control measures. Presently, the state does not even spray and pay for the suppression of gypsy moths on state-owned woodlands.

The mayor said that for the past two years, the Township Committee has authorized the funding and spraying of more than 1,800 acres and will be spraying again next year. Property owners desiring to have their woodlands sprayed next year should notify the municipal clerk's office by the end of July to be placed on the list for the Department of Agriculture's gypsy moth egg mass survey.

The next regularly scheduled public meeting of the Township Committee will be July 18 at 8 p.m.