Hello Friends and Brewery Fans....
We need your help!
The Mendham Township Committee needs to hear from our supporters. Please take a moment to help us.
You can do this by Contacting the Township here:
https://www.mendhamtownship.org/home/webforms/contact-us
Subject: Backer Farm – Proposed Brewery Project
Message: (you can include your thoughts on the project and consider including any or all of the
information below)
I am a Mendham Township/Borough resident and I support the Backers and the proposed brewery
project.
Please let Morris County know that the Township Committee supports the project.
Thank you for your consideration.
Encourage your friends and neighbors to do the same.
There is a vocal minority of objectors who have led an anti-farm campaign against Backer Farm for over 20 years. The Koenig’s and other objectors have put forth a false narrative about the project at town meetings and in letters to the editor of the local newspapers. They are now objecting to our Brewery Project and are asking for more delays to us moving forward. They are ignoring the weight of technical approvals and expert planning in the Backer Brewery application. Their attorney sent a letter on March 17 to the Township Committee, shamelessly demanding that substantial
taxpayer dollars be spent to research their concerns and fund their objections.
They have asked the municipality to hire the following consultants at taxpayer expense:
1) traffic consultant
2) site engineer
3) environmental consultant
4) planner
5) noise/sound consultant
6) architect
7) and/or any other professionals it requires to engage in a fishing expedition on their behalf.
They are not seeking to understand how the brewery project is designed to protect public health and safety. They are asking the Committee to fund professionals for the purpose of developing broad policy implications against all farmers who invite the public to their farm. Making this even more wasteful of taxpayer dollars, any resulting Mendham Township anti-farm policy would be preempted by State policies in support of farming.
Among our justification for asking you to support us and have the Township also support us, please see the following:
• Backer Farm’s CADB application follows a checklist recommended by the Morris County Division of Planning and Preservation which contains even more checklist items than were required by Mendham Township’s planning board.
• Backer Farm’s proposed brewery was already reviewed by the municipal engineer, municipal environmental engineer, and municipal planner, and was updated and went through two municipal technical review committee meetings, all at the substantial expense of Backer Farm which paid for that
municipal review process and the municipal experts and attorney.
• Backer Farm’s own team, who have carefully planned the proposed brewery, include a civil engineer, acoustical engineer, traffic engineer, professional wetlands scientist, a professional planner, a surveyor, a preserved farmland consultant, an architect, a local and reputable builder, a land use and farm attorney, and an attorney specializing in ABC licensing who will be submitting the ABC license application.
• The project has been reviewed by the CADB to confirm compliance with the preservation deed of easement.
• The driveway and stormwater calculations have been reviewed by the municipal engineer.
• A soil erosion and sediment control plan has been certified by the Morris County Soil Conservation District.
• The sanitary disposal flow calculations and the various farm activities have been reviewed by the NJDEP, with a Treatment Works Approval received and a sanitary flow monitor required.
• The Mendham Township Board of Health approved the septic and extended that approval after sorting through extensive claims by objectors.
• Backer Farm has a Footprint of Disturbance Freshwater Wetlands Letter of Interpretation from the NJDEP.
• Backer Farm has a letter from the Morris County Planning Board determining that the project will have no adverse effect upon County roads or drainage facilities and is exempt from County Planning Board Review.
• The project was reviewed by Mendham Township’s Fire Marshall who walked the proposed site and met with Backer Farm’s engineer and determined that he has no further questions or concerns and will again review the project during the construction phase.
• Backer Farm has a will-serve letter from New Jersey American Water.
• The project will be incorporated into a Farm Conservation Plan update submitted to the
United States Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service.
• Any Farm Conservation Plan elements involving conservation practices for gray water will also be reviewed by the Mendham Township Board of Health.
• Backer Farm will be submitting updates to its Event Management Plan to the township emergency services on an annual basis and welcomes a continued dialogue on safety.
• Backer Farm will operate pursuant to an ABC license which will include an ABC approved operational plan that addresses numerous aspects of safety, including, without limitation avoiding over- serving and avoiding “spill-over” of customers out of the licensed portion of the brewery premises.
• The project activities, events, and site plan will be reviewed by the CADB to confirm the brewery will achieve the site- and use- standards developed by the SADC.
If you'd like to write a letter, please direct it to:
Hon. Sarah Neibart, Mayor
Township of Mendham
2 West Main Street
PO Box 520
Brookside, NJ 07926
We truly appreciate you and your support for our farm!
The Backer Family has owned and operated Backer Farm in Mendham for nearly 100 years.– We love, respect, and appreciate this extraordinary place, and the ideologies in which it upholds.
– Our family and staff have put generations of craftsmanship, sweat, tears, and passion into this land and community.
– Preserving what Mendham means to our family is not only a priority, it is deep in our roots as citizens and neighbors.
For our many supporters, we say thank you. More to come…
With Love,
The Backer Family
Our goal is to provide accurate information about our brewing project in an effort to keep everyone properly informed. It is important that both false information and exaggerations are corrected. Please visit our brewery website FAQ page for more detailed information.
https://backerbrewing.com/faqs/
Some renderings of what we hope the brewery to look like upon completion.