Township Council selected Janice Mironov to serve as mayor for the eighth consecutive year.
By: Scott Morgan
EAST WINDSOR A standing-room-only crowd and warm words from the Township Council welcomed Councilwoman Janice Mironov to her eighth straight year in the mayor’s chair.
Councilman Perry Shapiro nominated Ms. Mironov, calling her "one of the smartest … hardest working persons I know." Councilman Marc Lippman then was selected as the township’s deputy mayor for 2003.
Mayor Mironov and the remainder of the Township Council spoke hopefully of the year to come. Councilwoman Marsha Weinstein spoke of a revitalized East Windsor with "a fresh new look." She praised the township for its juggling of development and open space and farmland preservation, an issue both she and Mayor Mironov said will remain at the forefront of 2003 township policy.
Mr. Lippman tipped a hat to the township’s citizens, saying, "It’s the residents who make us all look good at what we do."
Mayor Mironov thanked her colleagues for their confidence and trust and outlined the township’s major goals for the coming year. Topping that list, she said, is the further acquisition of open space and, particularly, farmland. In the business spectrum, the mayor said the township’s main focus will be to continue improvements along the Route 130 corridor, including efforts to sway the flood of commercial truck traffic toward the Route 133 overpass and the New Jersey Turnpike.
The mayor said she also looks forward to the ribbon-cutting ceremony that will herald the opening of the township’s first age-restricted community and the new senior center, both of which are slated to open by midyear. Mayor Mironov used the senior center as a prime example of good fiscal management in the township, reminding the public that virtually no public tax money went toward the construction and equipping of that facility.
Two other goals the mayor expressed were the township’s plan to continue road improvements, such as the Route 130/Hankins Road/Conover Road realignment, and the hope to make 2003 the township’s ninth straight year in which the local purpose property tax rate does not increase.
One outlook for 2003, not specifically outlined, but clearly evident, is the hope for an end to tensions with neighboring Hightstown. Several members of the Township Council attended the borough’s Jan. 1 reorganization meeting, and, in return, all but one member of the Borough Council attended East Windsor’s reorganization meeting. This reciprocation, Mayor Mironov said, marks the beginning of a new era of cooperation and communication between the two strained neighbors. Borough Councilman Eugene Sarafin, struck by the sight of each council supporting the other’s (a sight he said he has not seen for some time), said, "The signs of cooperation are in the air."
Mayor Mironov closed her speech by inviting the public to stay involved with township business. The council can only make things happen when it knows what’s on residents’ minds, she said.
Other appointments made Tuesday night included:
To the Planning Board, the council reappointed Peter Yeager to a four-year term, appointed Jagruti Patel to a one-year term as an alternate member and appointed Councilman Perry Shapiro to a one-year term as a council representative. As mayor, Ms. Mironov automatically holds a seat on the Planning Board. Also as mayor, Ms. Mironov reappointed Tom Ogren to a one-year term on the board. Mr. Ogren will be the township’s noncouncil official for 2003.
The council also appointed five members to the Zoning Board of Adjustment. To four-year terms, council re-appointed Alan Yarnoff and appointed Robert Hemel. Council also appointed Marc Roney to a two-year term, Michael Jacobs to a two-year term as an alternate, and Historic Preservation Commission member Casey Sein to a one-year alternate term.

