Ocean Township may buy historic Kepwel Park, with spring-fed pond, for $2M

OCEAN TOWNSHIP - One of the last orders of business the Township Committee conducted before the end of 2021 was to pass a resolution enabling it to buy six acres of property on Cold Indian Springs Road to be set aside for open space.

The purchase has not been made yet, as the resolution only grants the town the power to pursue a purchase of what is a property steeped in both legend and history.

The land is owned by David Jason Hutzley, who owns and operates Kepwel Natural Spring Water. His family has been bottling natural spring water on the property since the late 19th century.

Hutzley declined to comment on the potential sale.

Mayor Christopher Siciliano told the Asbury Park Press the town is not planning to buy the entire property, which is eight acres in total, and that Kepwel will keep two acres necessary to run its business.

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Siciliano, however, said the town would like to follow through on the purchase and return the property to public recreational use, as it once served as a bathing park.

"We'd be really glad to have it and add it to our inventory," Siciliano said. "We're going to use it for recreation. We'll hold summer camps for kids. We'll put some trails in."

Siciliano said the township would also want to reopen a large spring-fed pond, which was formerly known as Kepwel Park, on the property for swimming.

The resolution gives the town the authority to pay $2 million for the six acres of property. The entire eight-acre property is assessed at about $1.6 million, according to Monmouth County tax records.

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The township would borrow money through a bond to pay for the purchase. However, it intends to finance the bond through its open space fund, which is supported by the township taxpayers' dollars, Siciliano said.

Cold Indian Springs

According to the Kepwel company's history and Press archives, the springs were known as Cold Indian Springs as far back as 1749. Local legend is the Lenape came to the springs every summer and camped on the banks of the spring-fed pond.

Tradition holds that Benjamin Woolley of Shrewsbury purchased the land from the Lenape for a barrel of whiskey. A Quaker William Layton owned the land after Woolley.

The spring water started to be bottled for sale in about 1872.

Hutzley's grandfather William Morrell, and his business partners, bought the property and spring water business in the latter half of the 19th century.

Morrell developed and opened a private bathing area around a separate spring not used for bottling and called it Kepwel Park. In the late 1930s, he changed the name of the bottling company to Kepwel Spring Water.

The park was closed in the 1960s, though the spring-fed pond is still there.

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When Jersey Shore native Dan Radel is not reporting the news, you can find him in a college classroom where he is a history professor. Reach him @danielradelapp; 732-643-4072; dradel@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Kepwel Park could be bought by Ocean Township NJ for recreational use