ASSEMBLY ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 2639

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: MAY 12, 1997

      The Assembly Environment, Science and Technology Committee favorably reports Assembly Bill No. 2639.

      This bill makes a supplemental appropriation for Fiscal Year 1997 of $782,000 from the General Fund to the Department of Environmental Protection for the restoration of the Thomas A. Edison Memorial Tower in Edison, Middlesex County.

      The tower is owned and managed by the State, but leased to Edison township, which handles the day-to-day operations. The tower is listed on both the State and National Register of Historic Places.

      A grant in the amount of $781,527, representing one half of the total project costs, has been approved by the New Jersey Historic Trust and appropriated on January 10, 1996 by P.L.1995, c.420 to the Division of Parks and Forestry in the Department of Environmental Protection; the grant funds were appropriated from the "1992 Historic Preservation Fund" established pursuant to the "Green Acres, Clean Water, Farmland and Historic Preservation Bond Act of 1992," P.L.1992, c.88. However, matching funds of 50 percent of the project cost must also be provided from other sources before the project can proceed. This bill represents those matching funds. If the project has not progressed to the point where the department can claim a certain portion of the grant award by January 10, 1998, the New Jersey Historic Trust may take action to revoke the award. To date, there has been no significant progress on the project.