Wantage to take ownership of Lake Neepaulin

WANTAGE — The Wantage Township Committee unanimously voted to accept ownership of Lake Neepaulin on Thursday, July 17.

The final public heraring will take place in August.

Mayor William DeBoer said an attorney representing the Friends of Lake Neepaulin contacted Township Attorney Glenn Kienz to explain the gropu cannot afford the new special assessment terms.

Therefore, the group proposed relinquisihing ownership to the township.

During public comment, one member of the public was against acquiring Lake Neepaulin.

Two others were for the action.

On March 20, the committee changed the Friends of Lake Neepaulin terms from 10 percent to 50 percent of the special assessment for the $1 million dollar Lake Neepaulin Dam loan owed to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Agency.

Residents had been furious about the originally proposed special assessment.

Discussions and meetings took place from May through mid-July to revise the Turnover Agreement, and during an executive session, the committee reviewed the proposed final draft.

DeBoer said that simultaneously with the final acceptance of ownership of Lake Neepaulin at the August meeting, the special tax assessment for the Lake Neepaulin Dam reconstruction project will be repealed.

The annual cost obligations of the Lake Neepaullin NJDEP Loan repayment will be treated as all other Wantage Township NJDEP Green Acres loans.

The closing should take place on or about Sept.