Camille Fernicola NORTH BRUNSWICK – Middlesex County Freeholder Camille Fernicola has announced her retirement at the end of her fourth term, effective Dec. 31.
“It has been an honor and privilege to have had the opportunity to serve the people ofMiddlesex County. I have been fortunate to work with so many fine public servants who give tirelessly of their time,” she said.
Fernicola has been on the board for 11 years and has served as the chairperson of the Committee of Engineering and Planning, the liaison to theMiddlesex County Utilities Authority, and the co-chair of the County Sustainability Committee.
She considers her accomplishments to be preserving thousands of acres of land from development, continuing improvements to the county’s recycling program, improving traffic safety, replacing more than three dozen bridges, reducing the number of underground storage tanks while ensuring that the existing tanks are in compliance with the Department of Environmental Protection’s regulations, overseeing the first county-wide wastewater management plans and developing a major watershed protection and restoration plan.
She also said she worked with the Middlesex County Urban Forestry Advisory Committee, established the South Central Middlesex County Flood Control Project, established the Middlesex County Open Space and Recreation Advisory Committee and was instrumental in the passage of the Open Space and Recreation Plan of 2003 supporting continued acquisition of open space and adding at least 5,000 acres by 2020.
Fernicola also said she initiated theMiddlesex County Open Space and Recreation Bicycle Pedestrian Grant Programin 2006, which has provided over $1.5 million in funding tomunicipalities for pedestrian and bicycling accommodations and connections to open spaces, parks, ball fields and playgrounds.
“I am especially proud of the Middlesex County Bicycle/Pedestrian Task Force of theMiddlesex County Transportation Coordinating Committeewhich I formed the year I took office. The Task Force has been a strong and vocal proponent formaking county and state transportation projects safe and compatible for pedestrian and bicycle use. It has assisted ourmunicipalities in seeking and
utilizing various funding programs as well as advancing such initiatives as the county’s bicycle/pedestrian plan, the New Brunswick Bikeway and the County’s portion of the East Coast Greenway to name a few,” Fernicola said.
Before being elected to the Board of Chosen Freeholders in 1997, the lifelong Democrat served 15 years on the Township Council in Piscataway. She has been a member of the Middlesex County Democratic Committee for 34 years and a member of the New Jersey State Committee for 11 years. She has been involved with the League of Women Voters for over two decades. She is employed by the New Jersey Department of Transportation and is the RegionalManager in the Office of Community Relations.
Fernicola said she is looking forward to spending more time on self-improvement and concentrating on various projects.