Deptford Township, New Jersey

DEPTFORD TOWNSHI P , NEW JERSEY Mexican to seafood to Italian – with a sizeable regional draw. From there, the Deptford Township council also decided to invest in open space and farmland preservation, buying a 39-acre farm where 70 homes were planned to be built. According to Medany, “Then we hooked up with the County through Farmland Preservation, so now it’s preserved forever. There is a farmhouse, and 40 plots that are 30’ by 30’ that families are gardening. That’s part of our sustainability, too, because they’re growing their own vegetables, giving away what they don’t eat and teaching kids how to grow food from the ground to the table. We’re not trying to prevent home building, per se, but we preserved the farm instead of it being developed. Part of the farm is a wooded area abutting Timber Creek, a large waterway that borders a bunch of towns here in New Jersey. So, we preserved all that forest as well, and it was a real good move for us.” The Township also bought 24 acres, including three lakes. Medany adds, “For those unfamiliar with Deptford, we’re just 10 minutes from Philly and there are a lot of housing developments being built. We didn’t want to cover every square inch with houses, so we’re trying to purchase open space on our own. We preserved the three lakes, basically, keeping it as a wildlife preserve. Fishing is allowed and there are trails around the property, but no swimming. Our idea is to leave it for nature. We also bought 12 acres from the New Jersey Turnpike Authority that would have been houses and now that’s preserved. We’re using our own finances because state and county dollars are tight right now. And we’re fortunate to be able to fund these purchases, ourselves.” The county community college is a large employer; having partnered with Rowan University and several others, there are 10,000 students coming in and out of the complex. “We’re turning it into an eds and meds campus,” says Medany. “It’s close to 300 acres. Right now, Rowan Medical is building a new 50,000-sq.-ft. medical center there, and a Workforce Development center is coming in next to that. We’re partnering up with them and sending high school students to get college credits, while they’re in high school. The idea is to keep our graduates in the area; we want them to go to school here, stay here and work, buy a home, and raise a family.” Deptford Township has its own municipal utilities authority; an autonomous agency with members appointed by the governing body. With approximately 540 local roads to take care of, the Township floats a bond out for money, annually, and does about $1.5 million of infrastructure improvements covering 12 to 15 roads per year. Updates are done in neighborhood sections: taking up the roads, replacing water, sewer, and gas lines,