Historic Society Presents Morris Canal Park, Grant Proposal to Planning Board

Some time this summer or fall, waist-high signs will be put in place along Emery Lane in Montville, volunteers will lay down mulch, and Plane 9 East Canal Park will be created. The park, an effort by the Montville Township Historic Society, will preserve the sleeper stones that once supported plane cars on the Morris Canal.

The project was presented to the Montville Township Planning Board on Thursday by Kathy Fisher, the president of the historic society. Fisher had previously presented the project to the township council, and Mayor Jim Sandham told the planning board that the council had endorsed the proposal ahead of time.

The signs, designed by Joseph Macasek of MacGraphics of Morristown, will have pictures, maps, and text showing the history of the location. Fisher provided handout examples of the signs to the board.

Some of the text on the Morris Canal, Montville Village handout reads:

“In 1824 the Morris Canal & Banking Company was chartered to build a canal that would carry coal, mined in Pennsylvania, to developing markets along the eastern seaboard. The canal would pass through the heart of New Jersey’s iron district and provide the long-needed transportation system that would create new commercial activity in manufacturing towns like Boonton and agricultural communities like Montville.”

“It’s great, really beautiful looking thing … great job,” said Russ Lipari, the chairman of the planning board.

The project required no vote on Thursday, as it already has been approved. Fisher was merely keeping the board up to date with regard to its progress.

Fisher also discussed with the board a grant proposal that would provide funding to pay for architects to investigate buildings in town and to determine which should be added to a list of historic buildings. These buildings would not, however, necessarily be officially deemed historic sites unless the township committee approved them as such.

The grant would require that the town provide 20 percent matching funds, or approximately $3,000, if the grant was to be awarded.

The project would help especially when the county does site surveys, because according to Fisher, the surveys are based off of an 1853 map, but by having architects reevaluate sites in town, the list would be updated.

Planning board member Gary Lewis said that if the survey of sites were conducted, a government body and/or the planning board would still have say over whether the additional historic sites were to become subject to additional regulation.

“There’s a lot of stuff out there, from [1853] to 1950 ... I support the inventory 1,000 percent,” Lewis said.

A motion to endorse an application for the grant was approved unanimously.

“I’ll start working on the grant,” Fisher said.

The next meeting of the Montville Township Planning Board will be held on May 26 in the Municipal Building at 7:30 p.m.