By Mary Ellen Day, Special Writer
Manvile Mayor Angelo Corradino looked back on work done in 2012 on flooding issues, economic development and the changeover in the borough library in his new year’s address at the Jan. 5 government reorganization meeting.
In this past year the borough has attacked the flooding issue on two fronts, he said. He said the borough is in the process of completing buyouts of 14 homes for which the borough has received funding from both the federal and state governments.
”Since 1999 we have been able to secure funding to purchase over 50 homes in the Valley and create open space and park land and spare those residents the hardship of going through another flood,” he said. “We still have a lot of work to do to alleviate this same problem to many other homeowners in vulnerable areas where we were not able to secure funding to purchase their homes.”
He said the borough was in the process of applying for Severe Repetitive Loss Grants to buy additional properties or raise those homes to levels where there will be minimal damage in the event of another flood.
”We are still hoping that Somerset County will help us in funding these projects through open space funds to which we contribute over $300,000 each year as a community to the county and due to the fact we are 99 percent developed we receive little of this funding in return,” the mayor said.
He said there have been “tremendous strides” from the 10-member Raritan Millstone Flood Control Commission organized in January 2012. Under the leadership of chairperson Frank Jurewicz, the group is focused on completing the flood mitigation study started in 2001.
On the economic front the Economic Development Committee has been meeting with the developers of the Rustic Mall and is looking forward to the presentation of mixed-use plans during the first quarter of this year, he said.
”We are also looking forward to the completion of the expansion of Walmart into a super store consisting of a grocery, butcher, bakery and other supermarket items along with the other products now sold in the store,” he said. “We are also looking forward to the new Japanese restaurant opening in the Marketplace.
”I am sure you noticed the upgrade of the building where the Verizon store opened and the difference the upgrade makes driving into town,” Mr. Corradino continued. “We are making strides in bringing new businesses into our community but we have a lot of work to do in order to fill all the vacancies on Main Street.”
The borough is continuing its search for a company to upgrade the borough website and hope to have the search completed by June, he said. “We were close last year only to find the cost did not coincide with our budget,” he said.
The mayor reflected on “a situation” with recreation department from an incident of drinking on school grounds during a May public softball tournament.
”Some council members called it a scandal. I called it a travesty,” the mayor said. “Because of the badgering by a few individuals both on council and in the public, we lost our recreation director, who resigned because it was affecting his health and the well being of his family.”
The mayor thanked Rich Armstrong for his performance as recreation director for the last 15 years. He instituted many new programs for the benefit of our residents, the mayor said.
The mayor also thanked Stephanie Cornelsen and the recreation committee for “picking up the ball and not missing a beat with our programs due to the loss of Rich.”
The mayor said he was looking forward to the recommendations of Dan Mason, who is the owner of New Jersey Professional Management, which is conducting a study of the recreation department and evaluating the future needs of the department.
The borough also saw a transition of its borough library into Somerset’s countywide system. The mayor thanked Kathye Quick in organizing and leading the committee in merging the library with the county library.
”This increased the accessibility of library services to our residents at no additional cost,” the mayor said. “If this did not take place we would have had to reduce staff and hours of operation due to lack of funds.”
In 2012, the borough launched a task force comprising the police, fire marshal, code enforcement and public works to clean up the downtown area. The area will extend to Camplain Road and Brooks Boulevard areas, the mayor said.
”This task force was created in order to clean up Main Street and make it a pedestrian friendly place where we can walk and shop safely,” the mayor said. “I think if you walk along Main Street you will find a marked improvement from where it was 12 months ago.”
The mayor congratulated all those who were sworn in, both professional and volunteers.
”I know you will work hard for our town,” he said. “I especially want to thank all the volunteers from the different committees and boards who contribute so much of their time and energy to make this a great community.”
The mayor particularly thanked Sherri Lynn “for the great job she did this year in performing her duties as council president, along with the time and effort she gave to this borough during her term in office.”
Ms. Lynn was appointed to multiple volunteer committees for 2013 so she “is not going to be bored while she is out of office. We have put her to work in various areas to continue working for the betterment of our community,” he said.
The mayor also thanked former Councilman Rich Onderko for his three years of service to Manville.
