By Karen Keene
MCF is thrilled to congratulate Howell Township and join in the celebration over nearly six acres preserved as an addition to Deerwood Park! The parcel of land is heavily wooded and contains wetlands along a portion of the eastern edge associated with a Category 1 stream: Quail Creek. It will be left in its natural state and protected from development forever, offering precious wildlife habitat and green space.

Land acquisitions come to fruition through many different pathways, and MCF plays a variety of roles in preserving the land – sometimes providing funding, other times facilitating the process by guiding a municipality through the steps, in some cases bringing together partners, or sometimes a combination of all of the above. The journey to land preservation can be complicated and slow, in some cases unique even – such as this one, but the result is always a victory to be celebrated by all involved, and all who benefit.

In this case, the preservation came to be as a mitigation measure known as a diversion. Existing land preserved through the NJ Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Green Acres program in Howell was impacted by a New Jersey American Water (NJAW) water main infrastructure project. To compensate per DEP policies, an agreement was ultimately reached to acquire and protect the nearly six acres for public benefit.

MCF assisted the municipality through proceedings, and Howell Township should be applauded for their financial investment and diligence to bring about this acquisition. Speaking about the partnership with MCF, Howell Township leadership remarked, “The entire Council agrees that our partnership with MCF has been one of the most fruitful and rewarding that the Township has. Through a great combination of teamwork and insight, we have preserved acre upon acre of open space. And with every acre preserved, we receive dividends in the form of fresh air, wooded lands, open vistas, clean water, wildlife habitat, you name it. All of these factors enhance the quality of life in our Township. We look forward to working with MCF for many more years; we’ve only just begun.”

Project Specifics

In 2020 NJAW announced it would invest $25 million to complete phase 2 of its Howell Township main installation project by installing approximately 20,000 more feet of a new watermain in the Township. The project also includes installing 25 new fire hydrants along the pipeline route. The company completed the first phase of the project in 2018 by installing 18,500 feet of new transmission main. Once both phases are completed, the transmission main will allow the company to deliver additional water supply to customers throughout Monmouth and Ocean counties from its recently expanded Oak Glen Water Treatment Plant. This improvement is part of NJAW’s multimillion-dollar initiative to accelerate the renewal of water infrastructure that has reached the end of its useful life in more than 100 communities.

The NJAW project impacted 0.61 acres of parkland within portions of the Municipal Complex and Alfred C. Sauer Park at Echo Lake within Howell, both of which are lands on the DEP’s Recreation and Open Space Inventory (ROSI) that have benefited from Green Acres funding. The DEP on behalf of the Township of Howell reviewed the project and its need for a utility easement, then working with NJAW, considered alternatives. The parties carefully weighed whether the diversion was absolutely necessary and whether six identified, alternate routes were feasible. They shared the analysis and hosted discussion in a public hearing before the DEP ultimately authorized the major diversion project and ruled compensation by NJAW was required elsewhere.

DEP Green Acres policies require that compensation for a major diversion address both the fair market value and the area of the land being diverted through the dedication of replacement land or funds for the future purchase of replacement land within Howell, following preset ratios. They also require compensation for any trees of 6-inch diameter at breast height or greater that will be removed as part of the proposed diversion, either through planting of replacement trees or the substitution of comparable wooded replacement land.

Assessing the parkland acreage and trees that would be impacted by the NJAW project in Howell, DEP determined a total compensation value exceeding $200,000 for this diversion. Of note, the Category 1 stream on this land warrants the highest DEP protection. In the midst of these proceedings, Howell Township and MCF were presented with the opportunity to purchase the nearly six acre parcel nearby to to Deerwood Park, and the DEP elected to allow Howell to use all of diversion funds towards the acquisition. It was the DEP’s opinion that the protection of additional land that contained existing mature forest offered a greater public benefit than offering less funding for land while working to replant trees throughout ROSI lands in Howell. The Township contributed the balance of the cost for the acquisition. In the end, the public will benefit from updated drinking water main infrastructure and additional permanently protected  green space!