The Republican-dominated Hamilton Township Council wants a question on November's ballot, asking the people directly what Hamilton ought to do with Klockner Woods.
A few years ago, Mayor Glen Gilmore and the then-Democratic Township Council purchased the 53-acre tract for $4.1 million. Gilmore subsequently lost control of the council in part when the Republicans spun the mayor's open space purchase come election time as a frivolous cash-for-swamp deal.
But questions about the tract still linger, Republicans say; and Feinberg's ruling notwithstanding they want a directive from the voters on the same ballot that will feature a matchup between Gilmore and his Republican opponent John Bencivengo.
Gilmore's betting on his record of open space acquisition and the validation of Feinberg, while the GOP wants to assert a contentious issue, which they believe beat the mayor once before when Klockner was the thorniest of topics during the last election.
The mayor earlier this year felt vindicated when Superior Court Judge Linda Feinberg ruled that a developer could conceivably construct 41 single-family homes on the site the mayor's opponents had said was unsalvageably environmentally constrained.
