To the surprise of very, very few, the EWT Council has joined other left wingers and is intending to deny a man the right to his own land. I can only hope the council continues to deny the landowners their natural rights as it will make East Windsor the poster child for the fight for individual and Constitutional rights as the Van Handels are joined by many, many others, both individuals and groups in fighting the "statism'
of the council. While most of us applaud an "open land" policy, this is a case of individual rights. Besides, this would be a solar farm, which could return eventually to open space, and not another housing development, or warehuse, which, once built is never turned back to open space.

I was at the meeting to support the Van Handels. This article is well written and accurately describes what took place. I am amazed, at a time when many, many East Windsor residents are struggling to make ends meet, the liberal town government is hell bent to spend taxpayer money needlessly. Now is a time to spend only for necessities-not nice-to-haves like MORE open space. Radical idea people: how about you don't make it necessary to raise taxes to support your pet projects? How about you let this family, who bought their land and worked it for many years, do what they want with it? Who do you think you are to take away their liberty and their property?

I cant believe that the mayor and council, after being told we have no interest would move forward and try to push an apraisal on our property, knowing they cant make an offer on it, because it will violate our contract with the solar company and against our wishes as property owners, would missspend the taxpayers dollar. I am really suprised that the entire group, that is supposed to be OUR voice, is against us, and ignores anything we have to say.

Its pretty bad when u can't do what u want with your own property in East Windsor. What is going on with my freinds farm is BS. You should be able to do as you please with your own property. I hope everything works out for the best for you guys.

This article is clearly targeting Democrats. The Democrats have done more for the farmers than anyone else. If the farmers are allowed to sell to the highest bidder, the farms will be turned into housing and commercial development. We have solar farms in other parts of town. To come out against the Democrats like this is wrong and borders on hate speech. Articles like these incite people to do evil; such as the case of the massacre in Tucson. You Tea Party Republicans are a disgrace.

Here these people were going to retire on a wise sale to a beneficial company and in comes the local government pulling the rug out from under their feet to force them to accept pennies on the dollar. This is outrageous! I hope reason prevails and the people of the town rally to support the VanHandels and stop this madness.

BY THE WAY THE NEXT TOWNSHIP PUBLIC MEETING WERE US STUPID LITTLE PEOPLE CAN SPEEK WHEN TOLD IS ON THE 14TH. PLEASE SUPPORT WHATS RIGHT AND COME SPEEK YOUR MIND!

Firstly this article is completely unbiased and well written. I am ashamed at E.W. Township for denying a hard working family the right to do what THEY want with THEIR land. The principles this country were created off, do in fact give farmers the right to sell THEIR property. It is one of the fundamental rights as an American, and the VanHandles should have the right to sell their own property. If the mayor had such a concern on conserving farmland she should have started before we were “blessed” with walmart, target, abandon grocery stores, shopping centers, and more fast food joints than any other town in the county.
“property is the fruit of labor-property is desirable - it is a positive good in the world. That some should be rich, shows that others may become rich, and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise. Let not who is houseless pull down the house of another; but let him labor diligently and build one for himself..”
— Abraham Lincoln (reply to the New York Workingmen’s Democratic Republican Association, Mar. 21, 1864)

another reason to get out and vote today and vote these idiots out of office.

It’s not difficult to see that a solar farm, at this location which I visited, would be the best use of land and would benefit both the VanHandel Family and East Windsor.
Why would the council vote for an appraisal when the VanHandel Family said they will not sell their farm to East Windsor? You have to question the motivation of six our council members and their ability to look at the facts. This quest for more open space, at any price to our residents, must stop. John Guarniere

Well the council voted to get an apraisal, because the mayor wants to aquire our farm, any possible way she can, she mentioned immenent domain 5 or more times during a private meeting, and told us this is going to happen one way or the other, whether we agree or disagree. She wont listen privately or publicaly to anything we say. HOW IS IT SHE IS MAYOR? Arent they supposed to be the voice of the residents? She was so rude that she wouldnt let my 101 year old grandmother speek without cutting her off .My grandmother is one of the property owners! PLEASE MAKE THIS AS PUBLIC AS POSSIBLE AND ATTEND THE NEXT MEETING< NOV14th, 7:30 PM at the Township building, And Voice your opinion to the councill who is letting her continue to waste your money, for an apraisal that we clearly told her is not needed! Thank you

“Our overall goal is we have a number of properties, including these [the Cedarville Farm], that we would like to see remain part of that overall rural agricultural character that is such an attractive part of East Windsor Township,” Mironov said Saturday.

I have lived in East Windsor nearly all my life. Most of the people i have talked to about cedarville road doesnt even know it is there. So their argument about "overall rural agricultural character that is such an attractive part of East Windsor Township" is invalid.
Yes, solar farms are a bit of an eye sore, but its their property, they should do what they want to do with it. I don't see anyone complaining about the areas in Twin Rivers and One Mile Road in East Windsor being turned into shopping centers, apartments and more restaurants. Do we really need more clutter in these areas?

THIS HAS BEEN THERE land for generation and now East Windsor is telling them they can not do with it!.....What happened to FREEDON???? Come on East Windsor…..let freedom ring!!!!!

The greatest gifts you can give your children are the roots of responsibility and the wings of independence.
Dennis Waitly
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As for me and my house,
we will serve the Lord.

I have many concerns on this article, but primarily I don't want my money being spent on a pointless appraisal. An appraisal is simply a statement of the fair market value of the property. The fair market value is the value a willing buyer will pay and a willing seller will accept. Here we have Effisolar and the VanHandels, who we can imagine to be playing the parts of "willing buyer" and "willing seller", right? Therefore, I am paying, as a resident tax payer, for some professional to give me a value that is already determined? Obviously, the town will take the position that the solar farm will never be approved; therefore, the value of the property as a conventional farm is significantly less than the offer from Effisolar.

That brings me to the purpose of the appraisal, but I hope we never get there, as I don't think we can even justifiably afford the appraisal.

And you can be sure that the Township mafia will eventually try to somehow buy it at the lowest possible price and later sell it to some builder at a higher one and prob get a kickback to themselves. Ohh sure I believe your best interest is the town. Who gives a crap about cedar culler road? Most people don't even know where it is.

Please attend the township meeting on monday at e.w Municipal building 7:30 pm. In supprt of the local farmers. The mayor banned solar use and is now attempting to ban the use of wind energy to devalue our properties, so she can buy them for open space!
http://eastwindsor.patch.com/articles/township-seeks-appraisal-of-cedarville-farms

I have to wonder how Mr. VanHandel can make the comment that "preservation would only pay a quarter of what the solar company will pay."? How would he know unless he actually has discussions with the Township regarding preservation? The Lee Turkey Farm property went for $62,000 per acre when it was preserved in 2006 (info available on the NJ SADC web site). Plus, when you preserve land, you are eligible for tax benefits. This is not true when you develop land (yes, solar farms are development). So, even if they got more per acre from EffiSolar (which I don't believe they will with the economy the way it is), they will be taxed at a rate much higher than if they preserved it.
Also, the notion that his father can't retire because he will still have to farm if the land is preserved is totally false. It all depends on how the land is preserved. If the family goes with straight farmland preservation then they sell the development rights to the State and they can keep the land or sell the farming rights to another owner. They can also sell the whole property outright to the State and/or Town from the outset (they would get all of the money upfront). Either way, Mr. VanHandle Sr. will still be able to retire.
Lastly, this is not about rights of the farmer. If you now want to sell your land to a solar developer, this is no better than selling out for housing. You are a developer, plain and simple. You are not arguing for farming rights you are arguing for development rights.

I applaud Mayor Mironov and the East Windsor Twp Committee for their stance on this issue. Save solar for roof tops, brownfields, old shopping centers and parking lots. These large "solar development companies" are the reason there are no more tax benefits for homeowner solar installation. To top it off solar farms will be obsolete probably in 5 years. SREC's were $600 only 6 months ago. Now, because the market is so flooded with solar farms, SREC's are down to $200. All these solar farms are going to turn into wastelands. It's not like the solar companies are going to remove all of the panels once they are obsolete.
These things are total eyesores. Take a look at the one on South Broad Street in Hamilton and the one going up on Yardville-Allentown Rd in Hamilton (next to the Asian Pear farm-Evergreen Farm). They have totally ruined the landscape.
I believe that property owners need to be mindful of their neighbors (that is why we have Planning Boards). East Windsor has a right to farm ordinance and the land is zoned agricultural (no solar/energy generating facilities allowed). You can't just change the rules because someone is claiming property rights and wants to develop the land.

In this economy, do we really want our tax dollars being bid against private investment in renewable energy? Also, while the SREC's are currently in decline, the production of the electric power is ongoing. If a private investor wants to purchase the property and leave it as a corn/soy field, so be it. Just don't spend my money on it.

Hi Joe:
Regarding my comment on taxes, I was referring to the taxes you will be paying when you sell to EffiSolar. The taxes on the sale of your land to EffiSolar will be more then the taxes you would pay selling the land for preservation. In fact, it is likely you would pay no tax at all if you sell for preservation.
When you say "current preservation money isn't where it was a few years back," I'm not sure how you can say this without filing an application. If you are basing your comment on what other farmers you know are getting now (and you think they are being underpaid), that is a poor assumption. land is appraised for preservation based on numerous factors: how many homes could be built on the property, what environmental constraints exist on the property and what is the quality of the soils on the property?
You are correct that it can take time for a preservation deal to come through. A lot of this depends on what funding sources are being used. In many cases, there are many funding sources put together for a preservation deal (Town, County, State and sometimes donors or non-profit funds/grants).
With regard to removing the panels after 15 years when the solar bubble bursts, who is to say that EffiSolar won't turn into a housing development company at that time and look to build homes on the property? Definitely not something EW wants to see.

Hi Joe:
I think you are going to have a long battle on your hands trying to get the solar project through. Your farm is in a target preservation area not only for EW but also for Mercer County. With all of the legal battles you may face, you probably will get paid more quickly if you preserve the tract. I think you will also be pleasantly surprised at the money you will receive from preservation.
The reason EffiSolar doesn't want you talking to the Town or County about preservation is because they know the preservation dollars are competitive. If you talk to the Town about preservation (file and application, get the appraisals, etc...) and EffiSolar ends your contract, they will resign you if they really want you bad enough. They are doing the same thing throughout our area.
Also, I was against the solar panels at McGraw Hill too. That whole area should be a protective area to the Millstone River. Not sure what was going on there but I don't think giving the town 2 acres was the impetus. If the area is zoned office, research that is a type of commercial zone and the solar panels do fit in to that kind of zone. They do not fit into an agricultural zone (a zone targeted to remain agricultural).

In any event , we have 2 more years on our contract with effisolar, and if i negotiate at all with the township, or the county, it will void our contract, and they will sue us for there costs involved. At this time we are proceeding with the solar. Im quite sure that effi wouldnt have extended there contract if they thought they would loose this battle. Plus i have a personal interest because we do not want to be told what we can do with our property that is going on 5 generations. The tactics of the mayor , if more professional, could have made all the differance in the case. Also, the mayor keeps insisting we arent zoned for solar, well mcgraw hill was zoned office research. What is it zoned now?? Im sure the aproval process went quickly on that project, in consideration for the 2 acres that mcgraw hill donated for the townships solar project. Back door polatics are out of control in east windsor.