Waterfront parcel will expand Victory Park

ERIC SUCAR staff A portion of this West River Road property will be added to Victory Park. RUMSON — The borough has received a $250,000 grant that will help subsidize the purchase of a parcel of waterfront land adjacent to Victory Park.

Rumson Mayor John Ekdahl said the borough received the funds from the Monmouth County Open Space Grant Program. The total cost of acquisition of the property at 38 W. River Road is $875,000.

Ekdahl said the borough is also applying for a grant from the state Green Acres Program.

"The land we bought is adjacent to [the park] and it does two things that the grant committees like to see. First off, it does expand upon an existing park, and secondly, it's waterfront," Ekdahl said. "Preserving waterfront [property] as open space is a big deal."

The half-acre property would expand Victory Park, which now consists of 3 acres. The borough purchased 38 W. River Road from West River Road Equities.

The mayor said if the borough receives the state grant, the borough would still have to pay some money toward the purchase of the property. He said the money for the property will be raised through a bond issue.

"The bond ultimately is paid down with taxpayers' dollars," he said.

Ekdahl said he expects to hear back about the Green Acres grant in the next couple of months.

This is not the borough's first attempt at obtaining the piece of property. The mayor said the borough entered into negotiations with the owner in the past.

"We tried to do this about five years ago with a different owner and sort of at the last minute it fell through," he said. "We were thinking for years this was just an ideal [piece of land] for our parks system. [And we were] kind of frustrated five years ago when the owners elected to sell it to somebody else. We got outbid."

Ekdahl said prior to bidding on a property, the borough must obtain three appraisals of the property. He said the borough is not allowed to pay more than the highest appraisal received.

"We worked with the owner and he was amenable to the appraisal price," he said.

The owner of the property sold the riverfront back side of the land only, but still owns the front half of the property, Ekdahl said.

The mayor said the borough has yet to decide what will happen to an abandoned house located on the property.

The mayor said the front half of the property is zoned for commercial use and the back half for residential use.

"It's a house that I don't think anyone has lived in for five years or so," he said. "We've taken steps to board it up and make sure people don't use it."

The mayor said different options about what will happen to the house are being discussed.

"We're not sure [what will happen] but the one thing we're sort of being protective of is the footprint," he said.

One possible option includes remodeling the house and using it for boat storage.

"People associated with the [crew] program would like to see a place where they could store the boats close to the river," he said.

The mayor said this year the Rumson- Fair Haven Regional High School crew team will use the land in a more formal manner than they had previously.

"We've been using the area even prior to buying it. The owner was gracious enough to [let the school] use it for last season's crew program. It's a wonderful site for us," he said.

Ekdahl said the borough will clean up the property a bit when the weather warms up.

"We'll be using the property right away. We have to do a little remedial work in terms of the vegetation to make it look like it's part of the park," he said.

He said the Public Works Department will cut back some of the shrubbery and make the piece of property appear more connected to Victory Park. Ekdahl said the borough is also applying for a grant from the state Green Acres Program.

"The land we bought is adjacent to [the park] and it does two things that the grant committees like to see. First off, it does expand upon an existing park, and secondly, it's waterfront," Ekdahl said. "Preserving waterfront [property] as open space is a big deal."

The half-acre property would expand Victory Park, which now consists of 3 acres. The borough purchased 38 W. River Road from West River Road Equities.

The mayor said if the borough receives the state grant, the borough would still have to pay some money toward the purchase of the property. He said the money for the property will be raised through a bond issue.

"The bond ultimately is paid down with taxpayers' dollars," he said.

Ekdahl said he expects to hear back about the Green Acres grant in the next couple of months.

This is not the borough's first attempt at obtaining the piece of property. The mayor said the borough entered into negotiations with the owner in the past.

"We tried to do this about five years ago with a different owner and sort of at the last minute it fell through," he said. "We were thinking for years this was just an ideal [piece of land] for our parks system. [And we were] kind of frustrated five years ago when the owners elected to sell it to somebody else. We got outbid."

Ekdahl said prior to bidding on a property, the borough must obtain three appraisals of the property. He said the borough is not allowed to pay more than the highest appraisal received.

"We worked with the owner and he was amenable to the appraisal price," he said.

The owner of the property sold the riverfront back side of the land only, but still owns the front half of the property, Ekdahl said.

The mayor said the borough has yet to decide what will happen to an abandoned house located on the property.

The mayor said the front half of the property is zoned for commercial use and the back half for residential use.

"It's a house that I don't think anyone has lived in for five years or so," he said. "We've taken steps to board it up and make sure people don't use it."

The mayor said different options about what will happen to the house are being discussed.

"We're not sure [what will happen] but the one thing we're sort of being protective of is the footprint," he said.

One possible option includes remodeling the house and using it for boat storage.

"People associated with the [crew] program would like to see a place where they could store the boats close to the river," he said.

The mayor said this year the Rumson- Fair Haven Regional High School crew team will use the land in a more formal manner than they had previously.

"We've been using the area even prior to buying it. The owner was gracious enough to [let the school] use it for last season's crew program. It's a wonderful site for us," he said.

Ekdahl said the borough will clean up the property a bit when the weather warms up.

"We'll be using the property right away. We have to do a little remedial work in terms of the vegetation to make it look like it's part of the park," he said.

He said the Public Works Department will cut back some of the shrubbery and make the piece of property appear more connected to Victory Park.