Town may borrow money to preserve open space
Council introduced $15M bond to buy Sharma tract from Kara Homes
BY TOM CAIAZZA
Staff Writer

EDISON - In a move that has been considered by some to be unorthodox, the township council has opted to quickly introduce a $15 million bond ordinance to purchase 27 acres of open space that has recently become available.

The township is seeking to capitalize on the bankruptcy of East Brunswick based developer, Kara Homes, by competing in a bankruptcy auction for the property originally slated to house 22 singe-family homes off of Woodland Ave.

Kara Homes filed for bankruptcy in October, 2006, and has been selling off some of its properties in order to pull itself out of dire financial straits. The Sharma tract, which is 27 acres adjacent to the Stephens Preserve, will be auctioned off during the first week of March, leaving the council precious little time, 30 to 35 days, to introduce and adopt the required bond ordinance in order to compete in the auction.

The Sharma tract, which was on the Edison Township Open Space Inventory, has been identified by the Rahway River Association (RRA) and the New Jersey Conservation Foundation as land deserving of conservation.

"Mayor Choi and the council have taken a courageous step in the name of the public interest," Dennis Miranda, the executive director of the RRA, said, "to preserve what little is left of Edison Township's natural heritage. We applaud their efforts and we hope they do succeed. We'll support them every step of the way."

Miranda said that the RRA has been advocating for the preservation of open space in the Rahway River Watershed for more than a decade.

According to Joseph Baumann, the township's bond counsel, should the township be the winning bidder for the property, the county has said it would entertain reimbursing the township from funds set aside in the county open space fund. The result could be little or no tax- payer money coming from Edison residents.

Baumann said that luck is where opportunity and preparation meet and urged the council to introduce the bond ordinance, with a $15 million cap, in order to be prepared if they decided, in fact, to bid.

"If we don't take the first step," Baumann said, "we will not have that option."

Councilman Peter Barnes III said that there is no downside to the council introducing the bond ordinance, because it does not require them to approve it on second reading, but that a bond ordinance coming about in this fashion is unusual.

"We have to do something to move it forward," Barnes said, "but it is rather unorthodox for us to get something so weighty ... this is something that we normally chew on in a work session, go back and forth on."

In the end, it is anybody's guess as to whether the property will go for more than what the township is proposing.

"I recommended $15 million," Baumann said, "but it's really just a shot in the dark."

Baumann said that the township would elicit support from the bankruptcy court to have the auction date pushed back so the council has more time to discuss the possibility of bidding on the property.

Mayor Jun Choi, commenting on the bond ordinance, said that the township is committed to open space preservation.

"We are committed as a township," Choi said, "to take every responsible step to preserve the land as open space and protect the environmentally sensitive areas of our community."

The council voted unanimously to introduce the ordinance and a public hearing before the possible adoption of the ordinance will be held at the Feb. 15 council meeting.