Red Bank, Fair Haven and Little Silver were among the municipalities that received funding for recreation projects through the 2009 Monmouth County Open Space Trust Fund, the county announced Dec. 22.

Among the awards were $250,000 for the acquisition and preservation of a 0.69- acre waterfront property that will provide public access to the Navesink River in Fair Haven and another $250,000 awarded to Red Bank toward the installation of a synthetic turf field at Count Basie Park.

“This program is a valuable tool to help municipalities maintain and improve the quality of life in their communities,” Freeholder Lillian G. Burry, liaison to the county’s park system, said in a press release announcing the grants.

“The Open Space Trust Fund helps municipalities preserve open space and improve parkland by sharing the costs with the county. The program also complements the county’s overall commitment to land preservation for parks, recreation, open space and farmland,” Burry continued.

The county approved grants totaling $2,357,000 for 13 municipalities to acquire, create or improve park facilities.

All of the county’s 53 municipalities were eligible to apply for land acquisition and park facility funding awards. Twentyone towns submitted complete applications by the Sept. 17 deadline with requests totaling $3.8 million.

Nine municipalities, including Little Silver and Red Bank, were granted awards for park development and improvement projects. The other towns receiving funding are Eatontown, Keyport, Middletown, Belmar, Brielle, Spring Lake and Neptune City.

Little Silver, a first-time grant recipient, received $67,000 for a nature trail, monument and reflecting pool, flagpole, seating and landscaping at the proposed Memorial Park planned for a site on Prospect Avenue.

Four grants for open space or park acquisition projects were awarded to Fair Haven, Asbury Park, Manalapan and Millstone.

Last month, the Fair Haven Borough Council approved an ordinance that provided $220,000 for the purchase of property on DeNormandie Avenue for use as a riverfront park.

The park would be used for passive recreation. The Borough Council decided that there would be no parking or other facilities on site, except for some handicapped parking.

Parks and Recreation Director Charlie Hoffmann said during an interview on Jan. 7 that the borough has also applied for a grant from the state’s Green Acres fund.

“We’re really excited about it; we’re still waiting to hear from the state regarding the additional $750,000 we applied for,” Hoffmann said.

Hoffmann said the borough is unsure how much funding will be received from the state.

“It’s really hard to gauge these things with the state. We don’t know how much we’ll actually receive,” he said.H

offmann explained that the borough doesn’t officially own the property yet.

“The grants would be received pending the land’s official

acquisition,” he said.

Last year, Red Bank applied for an additional $280,000 grant to fund the artificial turf at Count Basie Park, located on Henry Street, from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Green Acres program.

Bob Evans, Red Bank’s former director of Parks and Recreation, said at the time the 86,000-square-foot field is used mostly for the football teams at Red Bank Catholic and Red Bank Pop Warner and for soccer in the spring.

Evans was not reappointed as director this year, and while the borough seeks a replacement, John Hird, the director of Parks and Recreation in Rumson, is filling in.

Evans declined to comment on the borough’s failure to reappoint him, while Hird and Councilwoman Juanita Lewis, of the Red Bank Borough Council Parks and Recreation Committee, could not be reached for comment. Red Bank officials directed all questions to Borough Administrator Stanley Sickels, who did not respond to phone calls.

Land acquisition and development for parks, recreation and open-space purposes are made possible by the county’s municipal open space grant program, a competitive matching-funds program for municipalities sponsored by the Board of Chosen Freeholders and administered by Monmouth County Park System.

According to county officials, the maximum amount of award funding for a project is $250,000.

Since the inception of the county’s Municipal Open Space Grant program in 1993, 43 towns have successfully applied for and received funding for 90 individual projects. A total of $12,658,000 has been awarded to date.

Applications for the 2010 municipal open space grant program will be available May 1. The filing deadline will be in September.