Board withdraws two properties from County program, asks Heritage Conservancy to step in

Upper Mount Bethel supervisors unanimously voted to withdraw the Haddad and Nordstrom properties from a County program and to pursue an alternate arrangement with Heritage Conservancy on Jan. 27. Solicitor Karasek explained that grant applications for the properties had been approved in 2023 but the County now expects the properties to conform to new Livable Landscapes guidelines; under the motion the Township will rescind its participation and ask Heritage Conservancy to handle the projects under the prior guidelines.

Supervisor Friedman moved to rescind/withdraw from the County program with regard to the two properties, and the motion passed 5‑0. The board then voted 5‑0 to have Solicitor Karasek prepare two new resolutions to assign Heritage Conservancy to the Haddad and Nordstrom projects. The minutes note Heritage Conservancy will work based on earlier guidelines rather than the County's newly submitted standards; the board did not allocate additional funding at the meeting.