Monmouth County has so much to be grateful for including the wisdom to recognize leadership.
Since her election to the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders in 2005 and reelected 2008, 2011, 2014, 2017 and again in 2020 in County Commissioner Lillian Burry has been the front-line leader of Monmouth County’s open space mission. It is about the quality of life in Monmouth County where we live. It is about vision. It is about planting seeds and being determined to see good ideas germinate and grow.
Monmouth County Parks has passed the 18,000-acre milestone plus thousands of acres of conservation easements and nearly 16,000 acres in the farmland preservation program where Lillian Burry has provided decades of leadership.
I nicknamed Lillian as “Monmouth County’s First Lady of Open Space ”. It is interesting that the throne once held by Monmouth Conservation leader Judy Stanley Coleman of Middletown, a mentor of Lillian Burry.
Seed are plants and the flowers bloom. Ms. Judy Stanley and Middletown officials planted the seed and County Commissioner Burry and County Commissioner Director Arnone made the Swimming River Park grow. The Swimming and Navesink River Greenway which encompasses Tinton Falls, Colts Neck, Middletown, Shrewsbury, Red Bank, Fair Haven and Rumson is combination of municipal cooperation, grant projects and outright riverfront land purchases have addressed our many neighbors who have embraced kayaking, crew boats, canoeing, paddle boarding and access to the rivers.
Swimming River Park is a new park at the former Chris’s Landing on West Front Street in Middletown with a kayak and small boat launch and areas for programs. Great crabbing too. A new seating area at Swimming River Park in Middletown that pays tribute to Judith Stanley Coleman (1935 – 2010) and Lillian Burry made sure to be at the dedication to speak (see photo).
When I first met Lillian, she was accompanied by this big guy Don who I first thought must be a body guard, or something. In fact, husband Don made a point of accompanying Lillian on her hectic schedule. One day she showed me her calendar and the number of events scheduled was staggering. Don was also a lot of fun and really knows his stocks. He can drive too.
Lillian was a realtor who understood that owners of farms love their properties and often wish to have them preserved. Yet there are families and children and different interests. With large checks being waved around by developers, Ms. Burry understood that a fair price was essential to the maximum preservation of lands whether purchased outright or with a conservation easement.
In Long Branch, Asbury Park and along our coast, the Monmouth County Commissioners opened new doors and dialogue in renewed efforts to provide parks, open space and recreation programs in our densely-populated urban areas. Commissioner Burry was actively involved in the construction of Sunset Park in Asbury which was built by Asbury with help from municipal grants administered by the Parks and the Monmouth County Commissioners. Lillian and Don attended weekly lunches in Neptune and Asbury to build the relationships and trust needed to foster County and Municipal partnerships.
Finally, Lillian Burry and her fellow County Commissioners were committed to salvage some good from the crushing economic blow of the federal closing of Fort Monmouth. Face it, our federal officials dropped the ball. Again County Commissioner Burry and County Commissioner Arnone led the charge as Board Members of FMERA. The Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority (FMERA) was created to guide the investment, growth and integration of Fort Monmouth and the surrounding communities. As such, FMERA advanced the Fort Monmouth Reuse and Redevelopment Plan, developed in 2008 as a blueprint to promote and encourage employment, commerce and economic development at the former installation, while protecting the Fort’s natural resources and honoring its rich history.
The results are impressive including the retention of the golf course, the construction, hundreds of new homes and the restoration of Officer’s Row. Monmouth County Parks has been able to obtain the 18,000 square foot top-of-the-line first class recreational facility for free. Netflix is transforming the former Fort Monmouth Army base in New Jersey into a massive, Hollywood-style film and television production campus. The $903 million project includes multiple sound stages, production buildings, water tanks, a hotel, and retail spaces, aiming to become a major East Coast production hub.
Rest in Peace Lillian. Thank you and Don for helping the Monmouth County garden grow.
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