FREEHOLD – Residents and business owners in Freehold Borough have selected three projects to receive municipal funding in the borough’s first participatory budgeting project.
Of the 13 potential projects that could have been funded with $200,000 from the 2017 municipal budget, the three projects selected by voters were a sidewalk repair program, five additional street lights in the downtown area and a pedestrian bridge near the Lake Topanemus dam.
Voting took place from Sept. 11-17. Voters were allowed to select up to three projects they wanted to receive funding. The winning projects were announced by borough officials on Sept. 26.
The sidewalk repair program received 161 votes. The initiative was proposed by Lynn Reich and Christine Gregory and has an estimated cost of $100,000.
Reich and Gregory said the program will allow officials to identify sidewalks in most need of repair and the cost will be divided between the borough and the homeowner with the homeowner’s consent.
Gregory said that because of cracks in a sidewalk, she fell and sustained broken bones.
The project to add street lighting received 127 votes. The new lighting was proposed by Downtown Freehold Business Advocate Jeffrey Friedman on behalf of the organization. The project has an estimated cost of $38,700.
Friedman reasoned that the addition of five lights will make visitors feel more comfortable and prompt them to stay in the downtown area longer when they visit the borough.
The Lake Topanemus Commission, which is chaired by Roger Kane, proposed the pedestrian bridge, which has an estimated cost of $44,000. The project received 117 votes.
The bridge, 50 feet long by 5 feet wide, is intended to increase safety in an area of Lake Topanemus where people fish by allowing pedestrians to avoid vehicular traffic. Kane noted that in order to fish by the dam, individuals have to step over a guard rail.
Councilman Ron Griffiths proposed the participatory budgeting program to the Borough Council earlier this year.
Prior to the vote, he said, “The ($200,000) represents only slightly more than 1 percent of the total ($16.4 million) municipal budget, but it also represents our trust in the public and our desire to engage them in the democratic process. We want people who have never voted before to realize their vote does count and their voice is being heard.”
