To the Editor:
In 1996, with the help of Green Acres funding, Wantage purchased the Woodbourne Park property at 145 Sherman Ridge Road from Glynis and William Sytsema, a Wantage Township farmer and businessman, for $460,000 for recreational purposes.
The deed conveyed to Mr. Sytsema the right to enter and use the property for the purpose of agriculture or farming activities, approved by Wantage on an annual basis, that did not conflict with Wantage’s use of the property for a period of no more than ten years from the May 13, 1996, date of conveyance of the property. That conveyance effectively ended on May 13, 2006. Mr. Sytsema passed in 2015.
This property is classified as 15C in the New Jersey Property Class Codes as: “Public Property,” means real property owned by federal, state, county, or local governments, or their agencies and devoted to public uses. Why is corn currently growing in Woodbourne Park? Who’s growing it?
In 2019, with the help of Green Acres funding, Wantage purchased the property at 41 Berry Road across from Woodbourne Park from Walter and Barbara Wargacki of Wallington for $600,000 for recreational purposes. The deed conveyed no right to the Wargackis to enter or use the property after the April 12, 2019, date of conveyance of the property. A Nov. 13, 2019, post by Wantage on their Facebook page indicates the results of a survey asking Wantage residents for their input regarding recreational activities that would best utilize the Berry Road property. The post included a link to the survey which garnered 140 responses as well as a chart of the results.
The responses included many recreational activity suggestions for this newly acquired property. Not one person suggested growing corn. This property is classified as 15C in the New Jersey Property Class Codes as: “Public Property,” means real property owned by federal, state, county, or local governments, or their agencies and devoted to public uses. Why is corn currently growing on the Berry Road property? Who’s growing it?
Karen Merritt
Wantage