MONTVALE—Mayor Michael Ghassali has again addressed the borough’s DePiero Farm lease dispute, sharing an update with residents ahead of a Dec. 8 court hearing and circulating our recent coverage as background.
“We own the farm, and it’s staying a working farm, period! Not sure how else to say this any clearer. Since it’s now public land, we can’t just pick whoever we want to run it. We had to do a public bid. Three sealed bids came in, and D’Agostino won with a $43,200 per year bid, compared to $12,000 from the other two. This is payment to the town, not the other way, so the highest bid wins,” he wrote.
Ghassali stressed to us that the leasee of the DePiero property will be paying a yearly fee to the borough, that state law requires, in this case, the highest responsible bidder to be awarded the lease, and that D’Agostino Landscaping will not be using the property to store landscape equipment.
Ghassali noted, “The lease requires it to stay a working farm by a farmer. Demarest Farm [& Orchard] who we respect and I personally know the owners, is asking for a rebid because of a technicality. The court will decide on Dec. 8.” wrote the mayor.
See “Demarest Farm lawsuit contests award to top DiPiero lease bidder; Dec. 8 court hearing” by Michael Olohan, Nov. 20, 2025.
Digitizing archives; water and turf issues
In other borough news, town administrator Joe Voytus said Montvale will seek proposals to digitize municipal records dating back to the 1950s, including minutes of governing-body and land-use meetings. He said a searchable archive will aid both staff and the public.
Voytus also reported upcoming Veolia Water main work at Summit Avenue and Chestnut Ridge Road and noted ongoing turf damage at Fieldstone Field, which has required repairs. He asked residents to report any information that might help identify the cause.