By Frank Mustac, Contributor
New Township Committee member Kristin McLaughlin was sworn into office along with reelected Committeeman John Hart., Ms. McLaughlin, a Democrat, replaces Republican Todd Brant on the Committee after Mr. Brant lost his bid to retain his seat on the the township’s governing body. Mr. Hart is now the lone Republican on the five-member Committee., As he did last year, Kevin Kuchinski will again serve as mayor in 2017 after a unanimous vote by his fellow Township Committee members to return him to the that position. Julie Blake was unanimously elected deputy mayor – the same position Committeewoman Vanessa Sandom served in last year., Mayor Kuchinski delivered a welcome speech during the Hopewell Township Committee reorganization meeting held Jan. 4, attended by an audience that filled the seating inside the committee meeting room. The township’s official town crier, Stanley Saperstein, dressed in a colorful Colonial-era military-style uniform and ringing a bell, formally announced the start of the meeting., The mayor spoke about the work completed by the Township Committee and township’s administrative staff in 2016, as well as goals for the 2017., “Last year was a productive year,” Mr. Kuchinski said. “We fulfilled our promise on lower taxes, reducing spending by 1.6 percent and holding the tax levy essentially flat. I am proud that Hopewell Township once again has the lowest municipal tax rate in Mercer County.”, “And we delivered two years of roads maintenance in one year in 2016, while staying within the approved budget, securing more outside grants to help fund this work., “Third, we took concrete action towards selling Pennytown, and hope to complete that process this year. We will use these proceeds to reduce township debt and interest expense. Finally, we delivered on our commitment to improve communication with the Boroughs and Schools, and with you our residents., “While we made good progress in 2016, we still have significant work to do., “We must intensify efforts to make Hopewell Township more affordable. Taxes remain a burden, and I see far too many parents move out of Hopewell Valley once their kids have grown, not because they want to, but rather because they can no longer afford the high taxes here or because there are not smaller, less expensive housing units to move into., “Younger families and single people, including our teachers, police, and firefighters, also struggle to, find affordable living options within the Township. This needs to change., “In 2017, we will continue our multi-year plan to reduce debt. Last year, we reduced debt service by 18 percent vs. 2015, yet, it still consumes 24 percent of total township spending. Divesting properties like Pennytown that we no longer need to meet our affordable housing obligation, will help us pay down debt and stop kicking the can down the road., “We must continue our efforts to defend Hopewell Valley versus the dual threats of the PennEast Pipeline and the proposed over-development of the township, as we work to meet our affordable housing obligations. On the former, Hopewell Township has already come together with citizen groups and environmental organizations, to send a strong signal to PennEast that we don’t need and don’t want their pipeline. We have successfully delayed the project, and will continue to fight the environmental destruction, risks to our drinking water and reduced property valuations that it would bring. The Township has filed over 20 specific and documented objections to the proposed pipeline with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, as we fight this scourge. We have robust clean water protections in-place through our Tree, Storm Water and Steep Slopes ordinances, and we will enforce these, through the courts if necessary., “Turning now to affordable housing, let me be clear that we will fulfill our constitutional obligation to provide affordable housing. However, the number of new affordable units proposed for Hopewell Township is excessive, and we are working to reduce that. We have engaged experts to challenge the underlying numbers, and are working to develop a housing plan that limits suburban sprawl, protects against uncontrolled development, and preserves our rural character. Together, we must smartly control this process and accommodate our affordable housing requirements in a way that is consistent with our master plan.”, Deputy Mayor Julie Blake also spoke during the Jan. 4 reorganization meeting., “We will continue to make progress on several new initiatives,” Ms. Blake said. “In September, we proposed a new community center with an aquatics center and senior center. We are in the research stage and have had the pleasure of meeting with officials from both boroughs, Capital Health, the YMCA, the Recreation Foundation and others.”, “As we start the 2017 budget process, we will be dedicating money for the design costs of this new center., “And even as we take steps to ensure that these centers be built, we will set aside money to maintain and improve the current Senior Center on the Pennington site., “We must continue to search for ways to save money while continuing to improve services for our residents,” Deputy Mayor Blake said. “Bulky waste pick up will be resumed this year. We are working towards a new drop-off option as well as a pick-up option for our residents. We will be announcing additional details shortly and anticipate resuming service this spring.”, “We also are going to help usher in the next generation of sustainable energy production here in the Valley. I hope you will join me and our Environmental Commission in supporting our Solar Challenge., “In addition, we are exploring an energy aggregation program that will benefit all residents who currently access electricity through PSE&G and JCP&L. We will be reaching out to residents with more information soon.”, Committeeman Hart also spoke. He thanked former Township Committeeman Todd Brant for his service on the municipality’s governing body., “He did an excellent job up here for the township,” Committeeman Hart said about Mr. Brant. “He went over our finances and our budgets with a fine tooth comb, saved this town a lot of money, and I just wanted to thank Todd again for sitting up here with me and helping us do the township’s business.”, Mr. Hart also expressed displeasure over what he described as “personal attacks” on himself and Mr. Brant., “The next thing I wanted to mention bothers me a lot,” he said. “I’m always a person who likes to say what’s on my mind. I’m not a real politician here, but I will say something.”, “We are all here sitting here, we’re volunteering, basically. We’re not here for the money. I’m not. I don’t think anyone else should be. But for the third year in a row, it seems like we have personal attacks on sitting candidates up here, and there is no room for that., “I personally got attacked and Todd (Brant) got attacked – complete lies, misinformation – and there is no call for it. We want to stick to the issues., “We tried to have debates, which we didn’t have. But coming here with personal attacks on people when they’re sitting up here just trying to do a job, and it saddens me. So I hope for next year when we come up here, we don’t have the attacks that we’ve been having on an individual sitting up here like we had in the past three or four years.”, “So I just wanted to make it public while we’re all here, because we don’t a very big crowd like this. We get like 10 people that come to these things (meetings).”, “We are all volunteers. We don’t have any special agenda here. We’re not supposed to have a special agenda, is my point. So from now on, when I see something there, I’d like people to make sure that they tell it, we’re here as volunteers to help you, the citizens, and that’s all., “I don’t want to see personal attacks again because I enjoy being up here. It takes the fun out of it when I see the personal attacks. So let’s not do that anymore, okay, please.”, Along Committee members Hart and McLaughlin being sworn in and Mr. Kuchinski and Ms. Blake taking their oaths of office for mayor and deputy mayor, respectively, appointed members to township boards (e.g. the planning board), committees (e.g. the finance advisory committee) and commissions (e.g. the environmental commission), were also sworn in., Those appointees are sworn in on Jan. 4 are as follows:, Zoning Board of adjustment: Denise Moser, Eric Hatke, Jonathan Nicozisis and Linda Rogers., Planning Board: Julie Blake., Affordable Housing Committee: Timothy Keenan, Christine Herman, Carolyn Bender and John Hart., Parks & Recreation Advisory Committee: Theresa Dolhon, Michael Chipowsky, Burt Sutker and Kristin McLaughlin., Board of Health Advisory Committee: Matthew Kolodziej and Carolyn Wooley., Senior Advisory Board: Pat Ferraro, Lawrence Mansier and Anne Bolick., Planning Board: Jack Belmont, Russell Swanson, Milind Khare, John McCabe and Kevin Kuchinski., Environmental Commission: Nora Sirbaugh, Michael Aucott, Timothy Wilson, William Washburn and Michael Ruger., Historic Preservation Commission: Maximillian Hayden, Sarah Katzenbach and Theresa M. Vogler., Open Space Advisory Committee: Carol Kleis, Kurt Vollherbst and Al Colina., Deer Management Advisory Committee: Denise Moser and William Cane., Finance Advisory Committee: Manjit Guleria and Michael Ruger., Other appointments are as follows:, Municipal Prosecutor: Robert Yostembski, Municipal Public Defender: John M. Holliday., Deputy Court Administrator: Christine Irizarry., Deputy Municipal Clerk: Lisa Fania., Treasurer: Elaine Borges., Pension Certifying Officer: Susan Newman., Searcher For Prospective Assessments: Laurie E. Gompf., Tax Search Officer: Mary Kennedy Nadzak., Paul Pogorzelski, the township’s administrator/engineer was appointed as Interim Zoning Officer in the Hopewell Township Community Development Department.
