Proposed Dredging Project at Shongum Lake & Special Assessment

Shongum Lake Property Owners Association (“SLPOA”) has been conditionally awarded a loan from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (“NJDEP”) to perform the dredging of strategic areas within Shongum Lake.

NJDEP has conditionally awarded the amount of $5,000,375. The loan is repayable at two percent (2%) interest, over the course of twenty years. The law governing the NJDEP loan program requires that Randolph Township act as co-applicant and co-borrower on the loan, and especially assess all properties that benefit from the project. The assessment would be made against all of the approximately 801 properties that have a license or a lake right to use Shongum Lake. The amounts assessed would be used to pay off the loan over the twenty-year period.

Randolph Township and SLPOA have relied upon a preliminary appraisal report prepared by Holzhauer & Holenstein, LLC (“H&H”) to estimate the benefit to each of the approximately 801 properties that have a license or lake rights to use Shongum Lake. The H&H appraisal report determined that there are three distinct categories of benefit and recommended that the assessment be made on a tiered basis, with estimated annual payments over a twenty-year period.

Randolph Township requires that SLPOA demonstrate that a minimum of two-thirds of the approximately 801 properties favor the project and the special assessment. Randolph Township has prepared frequently asked questions about the special assessment process.