Plainsboro’s reorganization is a silver anniversary event

Peter Cantu named mayor for 25th consecutive year.

By: Jill Matthews
   PLAINSBORO — It’s a silver anniversary year for the township’s long-reigning mayor.
   The Township Committee unanimously selected Peter Cantu — who is entering his 31st year on the Township Committee — to serve his 25th year as mayor at the township’s annual reorganization meeting Monday.
   Committeeman Neil Lewis was also unanimously elected to his seventh year as deputy mayor, while Committeemen Michael Weaver and Edmund Yates were both sworn in to their third consecutive three-year terms.
   "It’s been a genuine privilege to serve in a community like Plainsboro," Mayor Cantu said, thanking the committee, township staff and his family.
   In his annual address, Mayor Cantu highlighted the township’s 2004 accomplishments, many of which are projects or issues that will continue into 2005.
   Among the top accomplishments in 2004 was the groundbreaking at the Village Center and the additional infrastructure improvements to integrate the new center into the community, including traffic-calming measures, intersection improvements and sidewalks, among other things, Mayor Cantu said.
   The construction of the Village Center and other area infrastructure improvements will continue in 2005.
   A feasibility study to consider constructing a new library as an anchor of the Village Center rather than expanding the current library building at the municipal complex was also completed, he noted, and an official decision on whether to pursue that option is expected in early 2005.
   One of the biggest challenges for the township in 2004 — maintaining its tax stability and a high bond rating — was marked by success when, for the 10th consecutive year, the township’s municipal tax rate was the lowest in Middlesex County, Mayor Cantu said.
   The township also took two other major steps on tax issues: It began and is nearly finished with its townshipwide revaluation of all commercial and residential properties, and it filed a tax appeal challenging the method the state uses to apportion school taxes for regionalized school districts, he said.
   The revaluation is expected to be completed by the township in mid-February and a decision in the tax-appeal case is also expected within a month or two.
   The mayor also listed several other community development projects, public works projects, public safety programs and recreational and community-oriented programs as highlights for 2004.
   Among the public safety highlights was the hiring of Clifford Maurer as the director of the Public Safety Department, which includes the police, fire and rescue services departments.
   Besides the continued progress on Village Center and keeping an eye on taxes, goals for 2005 include adopting a municipal budget that remains fiscally sound; preserving the township’s last piece of targeted open space; enhancing communications with residents through an improved Web site and cable channel; beginning work on the Dey and Edgemere roads intersection improvements; and examining the township’s volunteer rescue squad’s service capabilities, among other things, Mayor Cantu said.
   During the meeting, the committee also made several appointments to various township boards and committees and adopted a $3.9 million temporary budget for 2005. The temporary budget is about 26 percent of the total 2004 budget and will be used until a final budget is adopted.