Money's Tight: Great Swamp Environmental Education Center Visitor’s Exhibit May Not Get Renovation

Budget cuts have been a recurring theme around Somerset County's various committees since the recession began, and now, in the wake of the Somerset County Board of Freeholders 2010 capital budget, more projects and programs will be feeling the pain.

The visitor's exhibit at the Great Swamp Environmental Education Center in Basking Ridge is just one of many that will be underfunded this year.  

"We're used to receiving about $10 million a year for our budget to maintain our current programs and start new ones," said Ray Brown, Somerset County Parks Commission Secretary Director. "Now we've been given $2 million, and we've really got to prioritize what we can actually accomplish."

While renovating the visitor's exhibit is proposed as a priority by the county's freeholders under the new capital budget, Brown doesn't feel there's enough money to overhaul the center. "It's about a $250k project, and right now we just don't have the funds," he stated.

When running through the list of projects and already-allocated funds, it was clear to Brown that $2 million was not going to go far for the county. Nearly $500k is taken off the top of the budget to cover vehicle  and equipment maintenance and grounds upkeep.  

"There are other projects we've committed to, like an Asian Garden project and an Organic Community Garden at Natirar," Brown continued. "When you add that to the estimated $173k for new lighting for the soccer park and $400k for pavilion renovations, that two million gets eaten up pretty quickly."

The money won't be released until the fall, but in the meantime Brown says the county's parks commission will be seeking more funds. "We'll need more money in order to complete the visitor's exhibit at the Environmental (Education) Center. Either that or we'll have to allocate less funds to it, but it certainly needs a major overhaul," Brown said.

For now, Brown admits, the department will have to make due with the budget it's been granted and take care of the ongoing, necessary projects before anything new can begin.