FFA project at Indian Run never sees light of day
Committeeman pitches idea for similar facility on Breza Road
BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer

UPPER FREEHOLD - Before the school district jumps on putting an FFA facility on Breza Road, the deputy mayor wants to know what happened with a similar project at Indian Run Nursery. The National FFA Organization, commonly referred to as the FFA, was known as Future Farmers of America prior to its name change in 1988.

Five years ago, then-Superintendent of Schools Robert Connelly announced a plan that would allow the Upper Freehold Regional School District (UFRSD) to expand and enhance its nationally recognized agricultural science program at Allentown High School.

In a cooperative agreement, AHS and Washington Township students would share the 20-acre grounds and facilities at Indian Run Nursery on Robbinsville-Allentown Road.

Dr. Leon Heuser established the nursery in the 1960s as a retirement business, where he and his wife cultivated and hybridized rhododendrons.

According to Fred Vahlsing, nephew of Heuser and executor of his estate, the property was acquired through the Mercer County Open Space Trust Fund at a cost of $600,000. Approximately 50 percent of the total cost was refunded through a state Green Acres grant.

In 2002, because of UFRSD's financial constraints at that time, Connelly said the school district would not have been able to proceed with enhancing its agricultural science program without a generous donation from Vahlsing, who contributed $20,000 to get the project started.

At the May 17 Township Committee meeting, Deputy Mayor Bill Miscoski, who is Vahlsing's business partner, blasted the Upper Freehold Regional Board of Education's lack of action on the Indian Run project.

Miscoski said the board has not done anything with Indian Run in five years. He said it had been one of the most beautiful properties in the area but that now "the rhododendrons and the house are falling apart."

"The Board of Education has done nothing, and the land is going to crap," he said.

Miscoski said that since the Board of Education dropped the ball on the Indian Run property, he considers a proposal to have the high school's FFA students farm land on Breza Road "nonsense."

During a discussion about the township possibly preserving 135 acres on Breza Road, which is located next to the land slated for the new middle school, township Committeeman Robert Faber suggested that FFA students could farm part of the property.

Miscoski said that he, Vahlsing and Connelly worked hard to get the Indian Run tract preserved. He said that Vahlsing "basically gave the land away" because he wanted to preserve it.

"It turns my stomach what happened there," Miscoski said. "One of the most beautiful places in New Jersey now looks like garbage."

When asked about the situation with the Indian Run property, interim Superintendent of Schools Robert Smith, who will be replaced as superintendent in July, said Mercer County owns the Indian Run property.

According to Smith, the school district's attorney sent a draft of the lease to Mercer County's attorney two years ago, on May 25, 2005. However, Mercer County's attorney did not respond, he said.

"On Dec. 6, 2005, I was asked the status of the school district's involvement with the property," Smith said. "I contacted the district's attorney who again phoned the Mercer County attorney. There again was no response."

Smith said his understanding of the terms of the lease include the district paying one dollar per year for a five-year lease. He said the lease could also be renewed twice for five additional years each time and then a third time for an additional four years, for a total of 19 years.

"As tenants, we would be responsible for maintenance and the necessary remodeling of the building on the property," he said. "There are many terms and conditions."

If progress is made on the lease, the district would have to inspect the building with an engineer, an architect and a representative from the state Department of Education, which is responsible for determining what the building would need in order to make it suitable for instructional activities and offices, according to Smith.

"The inspection would lead to information about the cost to the district of getting the building in acceptable condition to permit use," Smith said. "This information should be obtained before we sign any lease that may be approved by both parties."