"Looming overhead like a dark cloud for the past two and a half years was the failure by Mine Hill’s mayor to acquire a reimbursement of $800,000 from the New Jersey Green Acres. The organization promised it would pay the town, as part of a funding package, to purchase 200 acres of open space known as the Dickerson Mine Tract. As time elapsed and no payment appeared in sight, the disappointment in not acquiring the funds became the fodder for political snipping between the mayor and previous Town Council members, who made it clear that the township would be in debt if it failed to acquire the promised funds."