State awards $543,780 for town improvements

PLUMSTED - Mayor Ron Dancer has announced that Plumsted is one of only two municipalities in New Jersey to be awarded funding by the state Department of Community Affairs Downtown Business Improvement Zone (D-BIZ) fund grant program for 2008.

Dancer said DCA Commissioner Joe Doria informed the Township Committee on July 15 that Plumsted will receive $543,780 to construct two new parking areas in historic downtown New Egypt and implement a "way-finding" sign program.

The second and only other municipality to receive funding in the highly competitive D-BIZ program this year was Westfield, which received $600,000.

Dancer said Plumsted's D-BIZ grant application was prepared by Peter Ylvisaker, the township's Main Street/Neighborhood Preservation Program executive director. The members of Plumsted's Main Street New Egypt board of directors and subcommittees identified the need for two additional parking areas in downtown New Egypt and worked with the Township Committee in a joint cooperative effort to apply for and submit the grant application, according to the mayor.

The first new additional parking area is a vacant lot at 6 Main St. This vacant lot has been the site of an environmental remediation effort for many years and is in the final phase of having the state Department of Environmental Protection issue a letter of no further action, Dancer said.

Last year the Township Committee obtained a $36,000 grant to facilitate and bring to closure the environmental issues associated with this lot. A portion of the DBIZ funding will be used to purchase the lot and construct the new parking area, according to the mayor.

The second parking area project will be an expansion and reconfiguration of the existing Main Street municipal parking lot. The expansion will occur behind 17 Main St. The D-BIZ funding will also be used for acquisition and construction of this additional parking area.

In addition to providing funds for acquisition and construction of two new parking areas in downtown New Egypt, the D-BIZ program will provide the funds needed to implement an extensive and comprehensive installation of "way-finding" signs to more clearly identify and direct shoppers to the public parking facilities.

Dancer said the $543,780 D-BIZ funding from the state is the latest in a series of programs targeted to assist Plumsted in the revitalization of historic downtown New Egypt. Three years ago the township was awarded the state's $525,000 Neighborhood Preservation Program.

In 1996, the State Planning Commission designated New Egypt as the first town center in Ocean County that prioritized the township for numerous state grants and programs, such as Main Street New Jersey and Department of Transportation town center grants.

Presently, a Smart Future Planning Grant is funding Plumsted's plan endorsement initiative to continue and renew the town center designation by the State Planning Commission, a prerequisite for the downtown sewer project, according to the mayor.

To date, Plumsted is the first municipality in the state to complete the visioning phase of the plan endorsement process.

In other news, farmers are reminded that their farmland assessment forms must be filed with the township's tax assessor on or before the deadline of Aug. 1. For more information, contact the tax assessor's office at 609-758-2241, ext. 119.

The Council for the Arts continues its summer series with "Comedy Night" on July 25 at the New Egypt firehouse on Main Street beginning at 7:30 p.m. On July 27, enjoy family music at the Oakford Lake Park with a performance by Guitar Bob from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.