Nearly two decades ago — on October 31, 1995 — the first meeting was held of a new organization in West Windsor. It was called FOWWOS, which stood for “Friends of West Windsor Open Space.” As its name implied, it was dedicated to the preservation of open space in West Windsor Township. That seems like a simple statement, but for some it needed an explanation that went beyond its title. What is “open space,” and why should it have “friends”?
For our purposes, “open space” means land that has not been developed or “improved” for any purpose, either residential or commercial. It may be made up of fields and forests, or a combination of the two. It may also include bodies of water. If the “open space” is a farm, the existing buildings, if any, may also be included.
The desirability of preserving this land is more complicated. What’s wrong with improving the value of a piece of land, say, by building houses or commercial buildings on it? For many people the practical answer to that question depends on what effect the “improvement” has on the tax rate. Back when the desirability of saving open space was under discussion, much was made of the fact that residential development usually resulted in an increase in school taxes. More residences yield more school kids, and that means the schools will cost more, right? Well, not necessarily, but that’s another issue.
Then, on the other hand, wasn’t there a limit on how much commercial property one small township really needed? To answer some of these questions and to develop a strategy for finding the best solution for West Windsor, the original group of organizers met in 1995, with one Bernt Midland as the leader.
As I have mentioned before, Bernt was a tireless community leader of the “non-political” kind. He worked enthusiastically on many worthwhile projects and became known as the person to turn to if there was a “community” problem that needed a solution that was best handled outside of the existing government structure. On the other hand, if the government had to be involved, Bernt knew how to go about it in a way that left everyone with the attitude: “Why didn’t I think of that?” The state of New Jersey had already given its approval to solving local problems that way when it adopted its land preservation approach decades before, in the “pinelands,” for example.
So on October 31, 1995, West Windsor’s open space advocacy group met for the first time with Bernt as the chairman. The first problem was to decide on a name. “Friends of West Windsor Open Space” sounded good, but some people objected to how you might pronounce it if you just used the initials FOWWOS. That seemed awkward to some. Nevertheless, FOWWOS prevailed, and that has been its name ever since.
The first very important business decision we made was to decide to become an official tax-exempt 5013(c)3 nonprofit corporation. Once that was accomplished — as it was in 1996 — we would be able to concentrate on preserving the best of West Windsor’s territory and to decide on where that territory should be.
But even before the official organization of FOWWOS, the township had taken its first steps toward land preservation. In 1993, when West Windsor decided to switch from a “township committee” form of government to a “mayor-council” form, it also approved a one-cent dedicated open space tax that could be used to purchase land that might otherwise be used for housing development. And just two years later, a committee of the Planning Board, under Midland, proposed that an additional one-cent open space tax be approved. It was passed by the voters by a three-to-two margin. That committee had also begun to make an inventory of open space properties in the township with an eye toward acquiring and preserving the most desirable ones.
A first step in the process of preserving open space had already been taken by West Windsor in 1994 through the New Jersey Farmland Preservation Program. This resulted in the purchase and preservation of the Grover Farm. The major portion of the cost came from the state. The present Grover Middle School is located on nearby property that was acquired by the school board.
The most important achievement of FOWWOS during that time — and the one with the greatest long-term benefit for the township — was the successful promotion of the open space tax increase in November, 1998. Voters approved by a three-to-one margin an increase in the tax from two cents to seven cents per hundred dollars of assessed value. This gave the township a huge improvement in its potential ability to preserve undeveloped land.
One of the first significant land acquisitions that directly involved FOWWOS as an organization was the Liao-Lin property on North Post Road. This 29-acre property was acquired in 1998 in a deal that involved the donation of the land to FOWWOS and the subsequent turning over of ownership by FOWWOS to the township. The Liao and Lin families — partners in the transaction — shared the tax benefits of a charitable contribution to a non-profit organization — FOWWOS — and FOWWOS, in turn, was able to utilize funds from a state Green Acres grant.
This property is close to the geographic center of West Windsor and is traversed by Duck Pond Run. Before the transaction was carried out, a portion of the property had been under cultivation for some years, but since it was surrounded by wooded areas, the farming had not been very successful. That was one incentive for the Liao and Lin families to make alternative plans.
To help celebrate its first significant transaction of this type, FOWWOS decided to hold a ceremonial tree planting on the site in the fall of 1999. The idea was to have Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts from the local troops plant the trees. Since it was the fall — usually an ideal time for planting small trees — it was expected that in a few years there would be a forest on the site that had once been cleared for farming.
As luck would have it, 1998 proved to be one of the driest falls on record, and nearly all the trees died in a few months for lack of water. Today, 17 years later, the area is fairly well covered by trees that have grown up through natural reforestation. And, of course, there is the stone marker and its plaque marking this very special event in local land preservation history.
At one of the regular monthly meetings during the fall of 1999 it was suggested that FOWWOS should have some way to communicate with its members, such as through a monthly newsletter. Thus was the FOWWOS News born. Two very enthusiastic board members, Alison Miller and this writer, volunteered to take on the project as editors/writers. After much discussion about a title and format, board member and ex-mayor Bob Murray decided that we should call it “The FOWWOS News.” And so it was.
As editors, it was left to Alison and me to decide what it should look like. We also decided that it should be put out three times a year. After doing the first issue, it was decided that more often than that was beyond our “capability.” Remember that in those days this was a type and print job. There was no automated computer-based publishing, so it had to be done the hard way. That meant taking the finished typescript to a printer and then having someone affix address labels and postage on them, and taking them to the post office for special handling mailing. Three times a year was enough.
The format of the FOWWOS News included a self-designed decorative masthead on the front with a logo designed by early member Vincent Nichnadowicz. Other features of the design were pretty much dictated by the software available to me on my now-ancient Mac G-4 computer. My own longevity on this newsletter project lasted through the Spring-Summer issue of 2007 — a total of 24 issues.
They all carried the names of three of the most important FOWWOS founders, Gil Gilmore, Ron Rogers, and Bernt Midland. They had all passed away during FOWWOS’ formative years, and they were all essential parts of what it came to be. There will be more about the workings of FOWWOS in future stories, including information about its leaders, some of whom served the township in this important function for many years.
Today FOWWOS continues its work. Now, however, with a much reduced percentage of open space remaining in the township, its job is somewhat different than it was. Drop by the FOWWOS tent at the Saturday Farmers Market and check it out.
By the way, has anyone heard if Howard Hughes is taking any of our development suggestions seriously for his square mile of West Windsor real estate? Zoo? Amusement park? Museum? Reforestation? Farming?
