School Property Bought, Land Swapped

JACKSON – Township officials unanimously approved an ordinance for the purchase a 114.3-acre tract of land from the Jackson School District for $970,000 during a recent council meeting.

Council members said the effort behind it was to make the land unavailable for development and to assist the public school district with added funds. The property includes several parcels in the area of West Commodore Boulevard near Goetz Middle School and Elms Elementary school.

The funds collected by the school district will help subsidize the loss of around $20 million in state aid cuts that have taken place in the last seven years.

Mayor Michael Reina previously stated that the purchase will add to the township’s open space inventory.

Board of Education President Giuseppe Palmeri told The Jackson Times that the board “had some land that we were not intending to use, and the township was looking to purchase land to preserve as an open space. It was a win-win situation for both the town and the Board of Education.”

The purchase won’t cause a tax increase on the municipal side as the purchase is being made with open space trust funds.

“Our goal has been to increase the inventory of open space to 3,000 acres by the end of the year. This purchase allows us to meet that goal months ahead of schedule and to satisfy two needs in the community at one time,” Council President Jennifer Kuhn said.

Land Swap

Also during the meeting, Councilman Mordechai Burnstein asked for verification from Business Administrator Terence Wall that the township had closed on a land swap agreement that has been in the works for a while.

The agreement is with a private school developer, preserving over 30 acres of land near Leesville Road as open space. It was arranged after the initial site of the school was noted by residents and officials as being unsuitable for a school location.

Mayor Michael Reina, who was absent from that night’s meeting, stated later in the week that “by closing on this property, Jackson Township has eliminated potential development on this land for eternity.”

Burnstein added that the governing body was “committed to preserving more open space and we look forward to working on more such purchases in the near future.”

Another ordinance that was introduced was to delete permit parking on any county roadway in the municipality.

Proclamations

Two proclamations presented during the evening included National Library Week and National Education Day. Council President Kuhn read and presented the proclamation observing National Library Week to librarian Margarit Dugas of the Jackson branch of the Ocean County Library.

The mayor’s proclamation honored the Jackson branch of the Ocean County Library as a place of learning, sharing knowledge and as a place to be entertained and informed through its many services, resources and programs.

First sponsored in 1958, National Library Week is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association and libraries across the country each April. National Library Week is typically held during the second full week of the month.

Councilman Burnstein read and presented the proclamation concerning National Education Day. Since 2018, when the township first recognized National Education and Sharing Day, Rabbi Shmuel Naparstek of Chabad of Jackson has accepted the proclamation for it.

The proclamation notes that it was established by the United States Congress in honor of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. Education and Sharing Day, USA has been proclaimed annually since 1978, by the President on the Rebbe’s Jewish birthday (11 Nissan), which generally falls in April.

The observance calls for increased focus on education, and recognizes the Rebbe’s efforts for education and sharing for everyone.

Rabbi Naparstek previously noted that “education is not just about building the mind but building the character of the child. That is what the Rebbe taught. We must keep in mind that education is a lifetime effort.”