MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE OPEN SPACE ADVISORY COMMITTEE OF THE TOWNSHIP OF WANTAGE, HELD AT THE WANTAGE TOWNSHIP MUNICIPAL BUILDING, 888 STATE HIGHWAY 23, WANTAGE, N.J. ON THE DATE OF FEBRUARY 26, 2007

Jim Doherty called the roll at 7:00 p.m.

Present:Parker Space, Victoria Gill, Rudy Solar, Doug Ricker, Diane Snure, Tom Davis.
Absent:  Diane Mylecraine, Scott Sargent, Mike Garrett, Ken Nelson.
Also Present:  Tax Assessor Melissa Rockwell

Mr. Doherty offered a summary of the presentation made by Barbara Davis of the Morris Land Conservancy, at the meeting of the Mayor and Committee of the Township of Wantage held on Thursday, February 22. Mr. Doherty indicated that the governing body appeared to be in favor of entering into an agreement with Morris Land Conservancy to help Wantage Township write its Open Space Plan, but that Mayor DeBoer wished to give both the Open Space Committee and the Land Use Board an opportunity to review the matter and offer final input by the next meeting of the governing body scheduled for March 8.

The Committee members present discussed the pros and cons of utilizing the services of Morris Land Conservancy versus utilizing the services of Municipal Planner David Troast. After general discussion, all members present expressed consensus that the best interests of the community would be served by having the governing body enter into an agreement with Morris Land Conservancy, with the exception of Mr. Ricker, who wished to withhold his personal recommendation on the issue at this time.

General discussion took place regarding the procedure for implementing the local open space tax, and how much funds would be collected in calendar year 2007 if the local tax commences with the August tax bills. Mr. Doherty requested Ms. Rockwell to contact the County Tax Board and seek direction regarding how these matters have been handled in other Sussex County towns when they first implemented a local open space tax.

Mr. Davis expressed an interest in reviewing all available options for the structure of a local Open Space Advisory Committee. The members of the committee indicated they had no problem with Mr. Davis exploring this matter.

The Committee members present expressed an interest in holding another Landowner’s meeting, similar to the one that was held in September of 2006.  The committee members agreed to place this matter for further discussion at the April 30 meeting of OSAC, to decide if such a meeting would be appropriate to be held in June, July, or later in the year.

There being no further items for discussion, the meeting ended.

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James R. Doherty, Administrator Clerk