Frank Mustac, Contributor
Member of the Township Committee provided an update on the status of a proposed new senior center with a preferred location off of Scotch Road.
A new center center for senior citizens living in Hopewell Township and in Pennington and Hopewell boroughs, would replace the relatively small center on Reading Avenue in Pennington currently being use.
“This year we pledged that we were going to get the senior services coordinator position filled, and at our meeting on Nov. 28, I am pleased to report that Randi Knechel was promoted to this position,” Hopewell Township Mayor Mayor Kuchinski said during a recent Township Committee meeting.
Ms. Knechel’s duties as coordinator will be to develop and implement a program and services for the senior citizens of Hopewell Valley, according to a general job description for the full-time position.
“I think it’s now important that we make equal progress toward getting a new community facility built for our seniors,” the mayor said.
Mr. Kuchinski then spoke directly to Hopewell Township Administrator Paul Pogorzelski, telling him that the Township Committee would like to work with him and other Township staff to prepare a study and questionnaire “so we can bring that forward to the Committee and get everyone’s input at the beginning part of next year.”
Committeewoman Julie Blake spoke about funding architectural and engineering work that would be needed.
“Actually, this is the exciting part. We’d like to designate money in our (municipal) budget for a design proposal,” Ms. Blake said. “That is something that we need to move forward with.”
“Mr. Kuchinski and I, and I’m sure everybody here (on the Committee) is fully committed to making that happen sooner rather than later,” she said.
Speaking again to Mr. Pogorzelski, the mayor said, “I know you have been working with the CF Hopewell company to resolve the remaining issues for the proposed site for the senior center on the east side of Scotch Road. I would like if you could attend the next senior advisory committee meeting. I know there are a lot of questions.”
“Hopefully by our (Township Committee’s) first or second meeting in January, I’d like if you could come forward and share with the entire committee the progress and what we need to do to get that moving forward, and any key milestones.
“I think it’s the goal to have resolution by the end of the first quarter of 2017,” the mayor said.
In other news, Committeeman John Hart provided an update of the deer management program.
“The preliminary numbers for our deer management going on throughout the town right now, we’re up to 77 deer harvested on Township property, so far,” Mr. Hart said on Dec. 12.
He said the numbers are anticipated climb before deer hunting season is over.
The goal is for the deer management hunt to yield about 150 deer, Mr. Hart said.
