The Mercer County Park Commission’s purchase of a small plot of land on Hughes Drive in Hamilton in 2017 opened up a global of opportunities for the fee and—with the aid of extension—county residents. The fee has begun planning and learning potential park improvements to a 370-acre parcel known as Dam Site 21. , As part of that making plans system, the fee is searching for county citizens to design a passive pastime park with a focal point on using a big lake for water sports activities. The park occupies the land where the borders of Hamilton, Robbinsville, and West Windsor meet, south of Mercer County Park.
According to a park fee release, the budget for this recuperation process is derived from the Open Space Preservation Trust Fund. Dam Site 21 turned into deliberate as part of the Assunpink Creek Watershed Water Works Plan inside the early 1960s. The county’s approach was to reduce flood harm and develop water sources within the Assunpink Watershed. The land of Dam Site 21 was offered inside the 1970s, and the dam was built in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Soil Conservation Service. Since then, the land has
I have been held and used for permanent pastimes and conservation of water assets. The lake in Dam Site 21 is around 55 acres, and the nearby location comprises undeveloped uplands, wetlands, woodlands, and open fields. A part of the Capital to Coast Trail runs alongside the northern facet of the lake from Line Road in Robbinsville to Old Trenton Road in West Windsor.
While the public uses the location for fishing and hiking sports, there may be presently constrained get right of entry to and amenities — the purchase of four. Five acres of land fronting Hughes Drive created, for the primary time, the capability of direct gets right of entry to the website from a prime roadway. Around a year ago, the park commission started out thinking about revisions to the web page to comprise new ideas.
As a first step, the county launched a request for qualifications from panorama architects and engineering firms. After reviewing applications and interviews from thirteen submissions, the county chose Simone Collins Landscape Architecture, a “particularly local firm with deep experience in park planning projects like this one,” the superintendent of parks Anthony Cucchi said. The county also employed Princeton Hydro, an environmental answers firm on the way to be reading the park using reading hurricane weather-readiness, water best, and elements associated with the lake, for you to become aware of possibilities for recuperation.
“The park commission and county are excited to partake in a making plans method to revision the website and take into account other approaches that it could be applied past flood control,” Cucchi stated. One situation in building this park has been the belongings of residents residing adjacent to Dam Site 21. Since close-by residents have informally used this land for many years, the formalization and protection procedure can also reason modifications for those who stay closeby. Specifically, the county and shrunk corporations will carry out a boundary survey to decide wherein Dam Site 21 ends and private assets start to evolve. The firm may also be delineating wetlands to determine where trails are possible and undertaking a topographical survey to apprehend wherein particular services need to be positioned.
While Cucchi highlighted the advantages of getting a park being constructed close by, he recounted this concern. “The neighborhood needs to have a voice in the procedure,” he said. “We see this as a wonderful possibility, no longer only for the Mercer County greater location, but the specific residents nearby.” Toward this aim, the park commission is pursuing four avenues in search of network enter. One is advisory committees and representatives from municipalities and institutional landowners like Mercer County Community College to weigh in on how to park renovations should affect nearby communities.
The second is cognizance organization interviews, one of which turned into held on Feb. 19 on the Boathouse at Mercer Lake. Residents and network companies are invited to provide their entry on the renovations. The commission additionally intends to preserve one-on-one interviews with professionals and specialists on topics relating to the website online, in addition to public conferences.
The first one is scheduled for 6:30 p.M. on March 7 at the convention middle at Mercer County Community College. Also, till Oct. 1, residents can voice their opinions of the venture on an internet survey. These various ranges of input might be accumulated and in comparison with the research finished by the shriveled companies to determine what measures are feasible and how the park can provide distinctive services than the nearby Mercer
County Park. This input system is part of the bigger master plan phase to be presented to the park commissioners in October for comments and approval. Actual creation at the park isn’t possible until after 2019; however, Cucchi emphasized the significance of having an extended but extra transparent system. “In the long run, we’ll provide you with a far better product if we are searching for that civic engagement and public input,” he stated. “As far as pleasure, we’re actually excited to hear the thoughts and minds that people have.”
