Central New Jersey communities slogged through another hurricane for a second year in a row and weathered storms political and fiscal in 2012.
Hurricane Sandy didn’t bring the widespread flooding that Irene did the prior year, but Sandy’s howling winds mowed down traffic lights and towering trees that often became entangled in overhead power lines before crashing down onto roads and buildings. The resulting widespread power outages lasted for weeks in some towns, forcing school closings and plunging thousands of families into an 18th century lifestyle without central heat, running water or electricity.
The Packet Media Group continues its commitment to community journalism in Allentown, Upper Freehold, Robbinsville, Millstone and Plumsted by recapping this story, as well as other top news and photos that appeared on the front pages of The Messenger-Press in 2012.
January
The Upper Freehold Township Committee, which previously adopted an ordinance to thwart a nonprofit company’s attempts to build medical marijuana greenhouses in the township, calls on the state to suspend its medical marijuana-licensing program, alleging that information on one application was “fraudulent.”
Most Robbinsville residents responding to an online township survey said mature street trees whose roots are buckling sidewalks should be cut down and replaced with smaller trees. A new ordinance makes homeowners responsible for future sidewalk repairs after pre-existing hazardous sidewalk are fixed by the town.
Allentown Mayor Stu Fierstsein is sworn into his sixth four-year term as the borough’s directly elected mayor on Jan. 5. Republican Michael Schumacher is sworn into his seventh term on Borough Council and selected by his colleagues to continue as council president. Democrat Angela Anthony takes the oath of office for her first council term.
At the Jan. 4 Millstone Township reorganization meeting, Republican Nancy Grbelja is selected by her colleagues on the Township Committee to lead Millstone as mayor for the seventh year in a row. Republican Michael Kuczinski was sworn into a new three-year term on the Township Committee and was selected by his colleagues to serve as the township’s deputy mayor for 2012.
Republican LoriSue Horsnall Mount is chosen by her colleagues on the Upper Freehold Township Committee to serve as mayor for the second year in a row at the municipality’s Jan. 5 reorganization meeting. Republican Robert Frascella, who ran unopposed in the 2011 general election, is sworn into his second three-year term on the Upper Freehold Township Committee.
Plumsted Township Committeeman Dave Leutwyler is chosen by his colleagues on Township Committee at the Jan. 3 reorganization meeting to serve as mayor. Mr. Leutwyler took over the position held by former Mayor Ron Dancer for 22 years. Mr. Dancer decided not to seek re-election in 2011 to municipal office, but continues to serve as a state assemblyman, representing the 12t h Legislative District, which includes Plumsted, Millstone, Upper Freehold and Allentown.
Steve Morgan Jr., a member of the New Egypt Volunteer Fire Company since 1991, became the township’s first career fire chief on Jan. 4.
Stone Bridge Middle School sixth-grader Julian Tsang wins the school’s second annual spelling bee on Jan. 10 by correctly spelling the word “ceremonious.” Twenty-five of the school’s top spellers in grades 4-8 competed in the contest and the winner advanced to the Monmouth County championship.
The Robbinsville Township Council approves a new four-year contract with Local 2786 representing the town’s career firefighters that provides 2 percent annual raises each year for three years followed by a 3 percent increase in 2015.
Residents of Mercer Mobile Homes in Robbinsville are left in limbo after the collapse of local nonprofit’s plans to buy the trailer park for $5.5 million with financial assistance from the township’s affordable housing trust fund.
The long-awaited redevelopment plan for Town Center South encompassing 90 acres of vacant land, houses, and small businesses on the south side of Route 33 is revealed to the Planning Board during a three-hour public hearing Jan. 18. Township redevelopment planner Stuart Wiser says flexibility is the premise of the 164-page document, which now goes to the Township Council for approval before being advertised to potential redevelopers who will submit specific proposals.
Trenton middle-school teacher Leslie Septor is appointed to the Plumsted Board of Education to replace former board member Herb Marinari, who stepped down to accept an appointment to the Plumsted Township Committee. The school board interviews four candidates for the vacancy at its Jan. 25 meeting before unanimously selecting Ms. Septor.
The Robbinsville Board of Education votes on Jan. 24 to move its April 2012 school elections to November in a switch that saves taxpayers $20,000 in election-related expenses, but changes the way the school budget is adopted. A new state law allows school districts that move their candidate elections to November to skip the step of obtaining voter approval of school budgets provided the proposed tax levy increase is held to 2 percent or less.
On Jan. 25, a new ordinance takes effect that moves Robbinsville Township’s 2013 nonpartisan municipal elections from the first Tuesday in May until the first Tuesday in November. The change, which was supported by voters in a non-binding referendum, means the terms of Mayor Dave Fried and Township Council members Vince Calcagno and Sheree McGowan must be extended until Dec. 31, 2013 so that their terms in office won’t expire five months before the November 2013 election.
Robbinsville Township Council members say Jan. 26 there’s an error in the Town Center South redevelopment plan after school board members criticize the document for allowing single-family homes that will add more schoolchildren to the overcrowded district. The council says the redevelopment plan, which now must go back to the Planning Board for a second review, was only supposed to allow attached coach homes and town homes, not larger detached single-family homes.
February
The Millstone and Upper Freehold Regional school districts sign a shared service agreement, effective Feb. 1, that requires Millstone to run the bus operations in both districts. Upper Freehold agrees to pay Millstone $25,176 through the end of 2012 for the service, but the move still saves UFRSD about $13,000 over what it would have otherwise had to spend to hire its own transportation supervisor.
The Upper Freehold Township Committee listens to a new plan for the development of Reed Park that increases the price tag from $1.1 million to $1.3 million. Project engineer Patrick Jeffrey says the revisions, which include a larger bathroom/storage/concession building and veterans’ memorial, are being made to secure environmental permits from the state that give the town flexibility in the future. The new options in the plan do not need to be done now, or ever, he says.
The Upper Freehold Regional Board of Education, Plumsted and Millstone join the growing number of local school boards switching their traditional April school election to November. A state law allows any district that moves school candidate elections to the fall to forego the step of putting its budget out to voters for approval, provided the proposed tax levy increase is 2 percent or less.
Allentown High School student Teddy Meyer wins the school’s annual Wing Bowl competition on Feb. 2 by devouring 34 buffalo wings in a gastronomic spectacle that raised $637 for Operation Redbird, which provides care package donations for AHS alumni serving in the U.S. Armed Forces.
Upper Freehold Township receives $24,019 for the sale of unwanted equipment on the online government auction website GovDeals.com. The township sold more than two dozen items ranging from a broken vending machine in the old municipal building to an 8-by-20 foot bunk house trailer that netted $1,260.
Millstone voters on Feb. 18 overwhelmingly approve a $1.7 million fire budget, which calls for no increase in the fire tax rate. The vote is 135 to 20. Incumbent fire commissioners Larry Cier and Ron Gesulado are re-elected.
Plumsted voters on Feb. 18 narrowly approve a $2.18 million fire budget that increases the fire tax rate by 1.4 cents to 12 cents per $100 in assessed valuation. The budget vote is 177 to 167. In the race for four fire commission seats, voters elect Aaron Heller, David Gindlesperger, Eric Heiss, and Victor Seidman.
The Robbinsville Planning Board votes Feb. 22 to appeal a Superior Court judge’s ruling allowing developer Sharbell to proceed with plans to convert approved plans for 150 yet-to-be-built senior housing units to homes for people of all ages. The application, which the Planning Board had rejected in 2011, was the subject of five contentious public hearings in which residents complained about the tax impact an influx of schoolchildren would have on the town’s overcrowded K-8 buildings.
The Robbinsville Township Council on Feb. 23 votes down a $1.6 million project to bring sewer lines to 30 homes in the Buckley Lane area after many affected residents balked at the special sewer assessments they would have to pay over 20 years. Residents with failing septic systems told the council they would rather wait for the developer of a housing project on Robbinsville-Edinburg Road to install the sewer lines in the area when that project breaks ground in the years ahead.
The Plumsted Township Committee introduces its municipal budget on Saturday, Feb. 25. The plan calls for a projected 2-cent increase in the tax rate that works out to about $75 a year for the average assessed home.
Three drivers and four animals miraculously escape serious injury on Feb. 27 in a predawn crash on the NJ Turnpike in Robbinsville involving two tractor-trailers and a pickup truck pulling a horse trailer.
The Robbinsville Board of Education introduces a $41.97 million budget Feb. 28 that would increase school taxes about $177 a year for the average assessed home in the township.
The Upper Freehold Regional Board of Education introduces a $38 million budget that carries a 2 percent increase in the school tax levy for Allentown and Upper Freehold residents. The owner of the average borough home would pay $66 more a year in school taxes and the owner of the average township home would pay $104 more in school taxes under a state equalization formula for regional districts based on each community’s population and total property values.
The Plumsted Board of Education introduces a $22.9 million budget that holds operating expenses flat, but still requires a 4.6 percent increase in the tax rate due to higher debt service costs and a decline in the township’s ratable base. The tax impact is an increase of about $175 for the average assessed home.
The Millstone Board of Education approves a $36.6 million budget on Feb. 28 that calls for no increase in the tax rate which, coupled with new lower property values, means a $247 drop in school taxes for the average assessed home. The budget provides for four new staff positions and 300 new iPads for district classrooms.
March
The Plumsted Township Committee introduces a zoning change that would allow a medical marijuana cultivation or distribution facility to be located in the town’s light industrial zones along Route 537 near the Upper Freehold border. There are no pending land-use applications for such a facility.
Robbinsville Mayor Dave Fried tells more than 100 Foxmoor residents at a packed town hall meeting March 13 that’s he’s abandoned a plan to put an office building on a 6-acre parcel of township-owned land in their neighborhood. Instead the modular building that formerly housed a police substation and later the township tax office, will be demolished and the property will be left as open space.
The Upper Freehold Township Committee on March 15 appoints Public Works employee Sal Fiorenzo as the DPW’s new manager.
Robbinsville High School’s FIRST Robotics Team 2590 takes first place at the 2012 Festivale de Robotique FRC a Montreal Regional at Uniprex Stadium in Canada on March 17.
Mike McGeough, president of Dubh Linn Square pub, is the grand marshal of the Robbinsville Irish Heritage Association’s third annual St. Patrick’s Day parade that steps off from Washington Boulevard on March 24. Robbinsville schoolteacher Cathy Zahn is honored as RIHA’s Irish Person of the Year.
The Robbinsville Board of Education votes unanimously to have its architects move forward with plans to expand existing school buildings instead of building a new stand-alone school.
Robbinsville Mayor Dave Fried delivers the keynote address about the town’s 2012 goals at a Mercer Regional Chamber of Commerce luncheon on March 22. The mayor also unveils plans for a new 20-acre park in Town Center South that would include swimming pools, a multipurpose athletic field and walking trails.
The Allentown Borough Council approves several contracts on March 27 to address problems at its aging sewer plant, including $3,825 to replace a failed pump and a $516,870 contract with Spectraserv for the removal and disposal of biosolids.
Rain and chilly temperatures don’t dampen the spirits of 234 runners who took part in the 6th annual Run With the Eagles 5K race March 31 on Ellisdale Road in Upper Freehold. The event, which is organized by Boy Scout Troop 180 of Allentown, raises $3,000 to $4,000 every year to support the troop’s activities.
The Robbinsville, Upper Freehold Regional, Millstone and Plumsted school districts adopt their school budgets in March, which under a new state law do not have to go to voters because they are under the 2 percent levy cap. There will be an average $250 school tax decrease in Millstone, but taxes will rise in Robbinsville ($177), Allentown ($66), Upper Freehold ($104), and Plumsted ($175).
Attorneys for Verizon filed a complaint against Allentown Borough on March 22 in New Jersey Tax Court seeking to have its $46,190 business personal property tax exemption invalidated. Verizon, which is the borough’s second-largest taxpayer, contends a state law allows it to cease paying property taxes in any town where it is no longer providing landline service to 51 percent of households.
Robbinsville Mayor Dave Fried names Joy Tozzi as township administrator on March 28, but the Township Council will have to approve an exemption to the residency requirement at its April 12 meeting because Ms. Tozzi lives in Hamilton.
April
The Plumsted Township Committee on April 4 votes 4-1 to adopt an ordinance permitting state-regulated medical marijuana operations as a “conditional use” in the town’s light industrial zone along Monmouth Road (Route 537). Mayor Dave Leutwyler says no one has expressed an interest in opening a cultivation or distribution facility in Plumsted, but the town wants to be proactive so that a court in the future cannot force the town to accept a facility in an unsuitable location.
The Upper Freehold Township Committee adopts a $5 million budget on April 5 that will increase the municipal portion of property tax bills by $86 for the average assessed home.
The Robbinsville Township Council on April 12 introduces the mayor’s $20.6 million budget that includes a $58 municipal tax increase for the average-assessed township home and a restructuring of some township positions and salaries.
The Plumsted School District receives a $281,600 grant from the state Schools Development Authority for security upgrades at all four of its school buildings.
Renowned author Joyce Carol Oates speaks to students at Allentown High School about the creative writing process on April 17.
The Allentown High School a cappella singers known as Half and Half are among eight schools getting ready to compete on the MSG Varsity Network’s talent show, which will air on May 6.
The Robbinsville Board of Education accepts the resignation of board member Rich Kasper, who had recently found himself at odds with his board colleagues over an ethics matter. Mr. Kasper wrote in an April 19 resignation letter that he was stepping down effective June 30 due to work and family commitments.
A federal subpoena issued in connection with the public corruption trial of Hamilton Mayor John Bencivengo demands all of his email correspondence with Mayor Dave Fried since Jan. 1, 2011. Mayor Fried says he is not involved in any wrongdoing and has not been charged.
The Millstone Zoning Board of Adjustment on April 25 approves a use-variance application for a 53-acre garden center on Burnt Tavern Road.
The Robbinsville High School robotics team makes it to the quarterfinals at the World Championship at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, finishing among the top 10 percent of all competitors.
May
The Upper Freehold Regional Board of Education applies to the state Department of Education to expand its Interdistrict Public School Choice offerings for nonresident students whose tuition will be paid by the state.
Hundreds of people and their four-legged companions attend Allentown’s annual Petz Gone Wild parade and enjoyed the daylong canine demonstrations and other festivities in Heritage Park.
The Allentown Borough Council adopts an anti-loitering ordinance on May 8 aimed at teens under 18 who have been hanging out downtown and prompting complaints from residents about unruly behavior.
Dozens of rain-soaked volunteers, along with two wet litter-packing lamas, haul out 36 bags of trash from the Colliers Mill Wildlife Management Area as part of the Barnegat Bay Blitz watershed cleanup May 9.
The Robbinsville Township Council amends its municipal budget May 10 to cut $60,000 from the snow removal account and transfer most of the money to the Police Department. This budget maneuver produces a $21,530 net savings, which reduces the average annual tax increase from $58 to $54.
Thousands of people attend the Jersey Fresh International Three-Day Event held the weekend of May 12 at the Horse Park of New Jersey. The event is an equestrian qualifying competition for the 2012 summer Olympics.
More than 2,000 people attend Plumsted Township’s New Egypt Day celebration on May 12.
The Upper Freehold Township Committee on May 17 gives a thumbs up to the county’s proposed safety improvements for Sharon Station Road, but the concept plan draws mixed reviews from residents who live on the county road.
Upper Freehold Township Committee said on May 17 is will move forward with more soil testing of the former Miscoski property on Route 539 to determine the extent of the arsenic contamination on the 43-acre preserved tract that is being eyed for future athletic fields.
Janice Schmitt is selected by the Allentown Lions Club to be the grand marshal of the 2012 Allentown Memorial Day parade.
The political uproar over a controversial appointment to the Upper Freehold Veterans Council dooms a bid to expand the panel’s membership and prompts the council’s chairman to resign in protest.
Hundreds of people take part in the Silver Decoy Winery’s Hair of the Dog 5K race in Robbinsville on May 20. The event is a fundraiser for animal rescue groups.
The Robbinsville Township Council on May 24 adopts a $22.35 million municipal budget with a $54 average tax increase for a home assessed at the township average of $385,000.
A rare blue-eyed, white Standardbred colt, the offspring of a bay mare and stallion, is born at Fair Winds Farm in Upper Freehold and later introduced to the media. The U.S. Trotting Association launches a contest to name the colt, and its owner later chooses to call him White Bliss.
The Robbinsville Board of Education on May 20 interviews four candidates and picks Matthew O’Grady to fill the vacancy effective July 1.
Allentown residents complain to the Borough Council on May 22 that the heavy truck traffic on Church Street is causing damage to their homes.
The Allentown Borough Council votes 5-0 on May 22 to endorse a grant application seeking $250,000 to fix downtown curbs and sidewalks and develop a new municipal parking lot with an entrance on Waker Avenue.
Allentown High School’s Half and Half singers ride a wave of hometown support to win the MSG Varsity Talent Show in the vocal ensemble category on May 29.
June
The Garden State Debate League launched in the fall of 2011 by Stone Bridge Middle School teachers Dee Burek and Judi Hoffman, wraps up its last tournament at the state championship in Upper Freehold.
The Upper Freehold Township Committee introduces an ordinance June 7 to authorize the town to hire private contractors to mow the grass and weeds at abandoned homes and place a lien against the property to recoup the taxpayers’ money. The measure is meant to address the problems that arise when banks that hold the mortgage on abandoned residential properties don’t maintain them.
Hundreds of people attend Robbinsville Township’s Community Day June 9, which featured music, food, games, children’s rides and fireworks.
The Allentown Borough Council introduces a $2.19 municipal budget that spends $229,953 less than the prior year but still requires a 5.9-cent increase in the tax rate. Mayor Stuart Fierstein blames some of the increase on Verizon’s refusal to pay $46,190 in business personal property tax, which the utility is challenging.
The Robbinsville Township Council on June 14 agrees to ask the Planning Board to re-examine the Master Plan with an eye toward zoning changes that would allow a wider variety of businesses along the Route 130 corridor.
New Egypt High School graduates 124 students in the Class of 2012 on June 12.
The 283 students in Allentown High School’s Class of 2012 receive their diplomas on June 16 at the Sun Bank Arena in Trenton.
Robbinsville High School graduates 214 students at its commencement ceremonies on the high school’s football field on June 19.
The Millstone Township Committee adopts a $5.9 million budget that spends 3.3 percent less than the prior year but still requires a municipal tax increase of $241 for a home assessed at the township average of $450,000.
Monmouth County officials promise people in a packed Allentown Borough Council meeting on June 26 that Pete Sensi Park will reopen within four weeks.
Monmouth County Engineer Joe Ettore tells residents at the Allentown Borough Council meeting on June 26 that the county will wait until 2016 to evaluate whether there is still a need to build the westerly bypass around Allentown.

