"Who Was Peter J. Biondi?"

In a 1988 feature story in the Somerset Messenger Gazette, Pete Biondi listed his favorite television program as Jeopardy.  With Saturday's dedication ceremony in his honor, the title of this blog post now becomes the answer, in the form of a question, to this clue: Hillsborough's Municipal Building, opened in 1991, was renamed for this former mayor on September 15, 2012.

The plaque will be placed at the entrance to the building.

But there is nothing trivial about Pete's longstanding commitment to the residents of Hillsborough and the town he loved.



Mayor Carl Suraci

It has often been said that Hillsborough is a big town with a small town feel.  That is something that Pete always believed.  Although many of the planning decisions that have shaped Hillsborough were already decided before the Biondi's moved to town in 1976, and certainly before Pete was elected to the Township Committee in 1983, Pete remained committed to that small town feel.



Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno

Hillsborough acquired the property for the municipal complex in the mid 80s as part of the development project that brought the Rohill Estates development and the paving of Beekman Lane. 

Congressman Leonard Lance

By all accounts, it was Pete who pushed to have the new municipal building - just the second in Hillsborough's 200 year history - house not just township offices, but to also provide facilities for the police and courts, the school district offices, a modern library, and a senior citizens center.

State Senator Christopher "Kip" Bateman

While other townships, Branchburg for instance, were creating palaces for their municipal departments, Hillsborough built an efficient, workable complex to serve the residents first.  And nothing says "small town feel" better than the general store that doubles as the post office and ticket agent, or the local tavern that serves as the town meeting hall.

Former mayor Anthony Ferrera reads the proclamation.

Pete was duly proud of this accomplishment, stating at the 1989 groundbreaking ceremony, "This building symbolizes an era of cooperation in Hillsborough Township which results in diverse township functions being centrally located for the benefit of our residents." At the grand opening ceremony on May 19, 1991 he said of the $10.7 million, 82,000-square-foot complex, "I believe it marks the coming of age for our community. It's truly a 21st century facility."

Pete's grandchildren cut the ribbon as family and dignitaries look on.

About 200 of Pete's friends, family, and Hillsborough neighbors came out on Saturday to witness the dedication ceremony, which included guest speakers, the reading of the proclamation, and the unveiling of a plaque and a new sign over the main entrance to the building.

The new sign over the main entrance

At the close of ceremonies, Mrs. Joan Biondi spoke eloquently about her husband, who is missed by all.

Mrs. Joan Biondi

Pete Biondi, Hillsborough's Best Friend

Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State under George Washington, Vice President under John Adams, third president of the United States, upon designing the inscription for his tombstone, famously left off all of those titles.   Instead he wished to be remembered for just three things: writing the Declaration of Independence, writing Virginia's Statute for Religious Freedom, and founding the University of Virginia.

In that same spirit, as I reflect on the passing last week of Peter Biondi, I barely think about his ten years as a Hillsborough Township Committeeman, his term as a Somerset County Freeholder, or his dozen years representing the 16th district in the New Jersey Assembly.

More than anything else, Pete was Hillsborough's best friend, plain and simple.  

It hurts to lose your best friend.  It hurts a lot.

Sometimes looking at pictures helps.

Black Horse Stable Family Day for special needs children, 2007.   Pete was a tireless supporter and  advocate for the special needs community.  Over the years he made generous personal donations to Autism Speaks and the Organization for Autism Research, as well as fighting in Trenton for insurance reform and a common sense vaccination policy.

Rotary Club of Hillsborough annual Easter Egg Hunt, 2008.   Pete was  a proud member of the Rotary, and exemplified its motto, "service above self".  He was actively involved in all of their community activities, including the Easter Egg Hunt, and in later years, the annual Rotary Fair.



Portrait by Kevin Murphy, 2009.  When Hillsborough artist Kevin Murphy came to the Cultural Arts Commission in 2008  with an idea to transform our annual art show to include a commissioned portrait of a notable Hillsborough person, he already knew who the first subject should be. We Agreed.  Not only did Pete fit every imaginable criteria for inclusion in Hillsborough's "hall of fame", he was also a strong supporter of the arts, offering his personal financial assistance to the art show in subsequent years.



Memorial Day Parade, 2009.  Pete was a fixture at Hillsborough's annual Memorial Day Parade.  His support for our veterans, as well as those currently serving was unquestionable.

Retro Soldiers Go Wayback for 2011 Parade

Hillsborough's 2011 Memorial Day Parade was much the same as in past years - marching band, fire companies, Scouts, and youth sports leagues were all in their usual places.

But at least one group seemed out of step, or at least, unfamiliar.

Take a look at these photos from recent parades.

Hillsborough Township Memorial Day Parade 2006

Hillsborough Township Memorial Day Parade 2007

Hillsborough Township Memorial Day Parade 2009

Hillsborough Township Memorial Day Parade 2010

The "retro-soldiers" have always cultivated a definite 20th century appearance - until this year:



Boy Scout Troop 1776 Colonial Militia Unit marches in the 2011 Memorial Day Parade

It looks like they set the Wayback Machine for the mid 1700s!

Adjusting Open Space Tax Rate is Child's Play

What happens to property tax rates after a town-wide revaluation, such as the one recently completed in Hillsborough?  As my high school calculus teacher might say, the math here is "child's play".  In order to collect the same amount of taxes, when the assessed value rises, the tax rate must go down.

We have already seen this calculation put into place with the proposed school tax.  On Monday the School Board is expected to propose a new tax rate of $1.45 per $100 of assessed value, where the old rate was just over $2.00.  The Township Committee will propose a similar adjustment in their upcoming budget.

So far, so good.

But what happens to other fees that aren't necessarily property taxes, but are tied directly to property values?  Shouldn't those be adjusted also?

In dozens of New Jersey communities that have undergone revaluations over the past several years, the answer is either "no", or "we didn't think of it".  Incredible!

The example at hand is the Open Space Tax.  In Hillsborough, the tax  - approved by voters in the mid-90s to preserve open space and farmland - is currently set at 4 cents per $100.  Leaving the tax rate as it is would result in an unjustified windfall for the town, and create an increased, unapproved, tax burden for property owners.

Amazingly, nearly 75% of towns that have found themselves in this situation have done just that - collectively receiving a bonus of more than $15 million.

Not in Hillsborough, where Mayor Gloria McCauley has instructed the township attorney to investigate how to legally change the voter-approved tax rate to reflect the reassessments.

After that, the rest is, indeed, child's play.

It's Spring Clean-Up Time in Hillsborough

As soon as the snow starts to melt, people begin asking questions about the Hillsborough Annual Clean-Up.

As in years past, you will need a coupon to visit the dump site.  Coupons will be available at the DPW building from March 21 to April 29.

For more info, click on the flier below.

Christie Coming to Hillsborough for Town Hall Meeting

Governor Chris Christie is coming to Hillsborough Wednesday March 2, for a town hall meeting.  Because of space limitations at the municipal building, residents are asked to RSVP by clicking here.

Not only is this your chance to ask the governor a question, you just might become a YouTube sensation!

Crash, Boom, Bang

New Jersey's Safe Corridors highway safety program is now seven years old.  Misnamed from the start - the designation was applied to a dozen of the state's most unsafe roads - Safe Corridor signage was supposed to alert drivers and reduce accidents on some of New Jersey's deadliest highways.

Has the program been successful?  In an era of text-happy teens and otherwise inattentive drivers, most of the state has seen a reduction in collisions along these routes.  That's great for most of the state, but right here in Hillsborough, our Route 206 Safe Corridor saw an 11% increase in accidents from 2004 to 2009 - the most recent year in which statistics are available.

Looking for answers?  A DOT spokesman blames the 206 troubles on increased traffic volume, and says there's nothing the state can do about it.

Dam, Dam, Dam

The Houston-based El Paso Corporation has agreed to remove three dams from the Raritan River as part of a settlement to compensate New Jersey for damage to natural resources from four industrial plants it operates in the state.  Two of the offending facilities, EPEC Polymers Inc in Flemington, and Nuodex Inc. in Woodbridge, are in the Raritan River watershed. 

Removal of the dams is being applauded by environmental groups as the project will allow fish such as American shad, striped bass, American eel, and herring to reach further upriver to spawn.  The faster flow of the river without the dams is also better for the overall health of the river and the surrounding wildlife.

The first dam to be removed will be the Calco Dam, in the vicinity of Polhemus Drive in Bridgewater.  Built by the Calco Chemical Company in 1938, it was used to disperse chemicals into the river, and is currently used by the  Somerset Raritan Valley Sewerage Authority.




View Raritan River Dams to be Removed in a larger map


The two other dams, shown on the map above, are closer to home.

The Nevius Street Dam, located between the Nevius Street Bridge and the Basilone Bridge, was built in 1901 and was used to provide water to the lakes on the Duke Estate.

The Robert Street Dam was built some time before 1930.  Located near the eastern tip of Duke Island Park, it's purpose is unclear - but I am guessing it also had something to do with the Duke Estate.

The Headgates Dam, at the western end of Duke Island Park, is not slated for demolition.

HeadGates Dam at Duke Island Park

New Administrator/Clerk

Former mayor and longtime Planning Board and MUA member Mike Merdinger has been chosen from a pool of nearly four dozen applicants to become Hillsborough's new administrator/clerk. Read the full story here.

Merdinger will begin his new post on January 5th.

Although he will be new to the particular duties of a municipal administrator, the Flagtown resident has many years of private sector management experience in the environmental engineering realm, most recently working on a multimillion dollar waste management project in Kuwait.

This coming year will mark the beginning of Merdinger's fifth decade of service to Hillsborough.

Barking Up the Right Tree

I had to read the MyCentralJersey.com Hillsborough dog license fee story through a couple of times, and do some math, before I figured out what was going on.

It's not obvious from the story, but with some multiplication and division, I was able to determine that there are about 3,600 dogs in the township. The $7 license fee established twenty years ago just has not kept pace with the amount Hillsborough pays annually for state mandated animal control services. In 2010, pet owners contributed $25,000 toward the $60,000 fee, with the balance being made up out of the general fund, i.e. your tax dollar.

Don't get me wrong, I don't believe dog owners should shoulder the entire cost for animal control - especially since it is expected to be as much as $126,000 by 2012. After all, the entire town benefits from these services, even if you don't own so much as a goldfish.

Still, the Hillsborough Township Committee's proposal to gradually raise the license fee to $20 over the next two years will mean that leash holders will be covering about 55% of the expenditure - which seems just about pawfect.

Goodbye, Mercury

Now that the last shipment of mercury has left for Nevada, it might be pointed out that thirty years ago, the General Services Administration's South Somerville Depot was just one of 117 Federal depots charged with stockpiling 93 strategic commodities. Among the 35 materials stored at the Hillsborough Township location on Route 206 just south of the Doris Duke estate were antimony, asbestos, beryllium metal, cobalt, copper, crude rubber, iodine, tin, and mercury - an inventory that was then worth a half billion dollars.

Photo from The New York Times, 25 May 1978

Originally intended to store enough materials to fight the first five years of a war, cutbacks under President Nixon reduced the nation's stockpiles to less than three years. President Ford initiated a program to rebuild the stockpile - a program that was continued by Jimmy Carter.

Photo from The New York Times, 25 May 1978

When a New York Times reporter visited the depot in May 1978, managers were quick to point out the dangers posed by many of the materials. The more than 1,000 tons of crude iodine was said to be particularly hazardous, as was the 12,000 tons of crude asbestos stored in burlap bags. Employees were required to wear protective clothing and follow other OSHA regulations when handling such materials.

As you might expect special mention was made of the 2,659 tons of mercury stored in steel flasks. An electronic sniffer that could detect mercury odors as small as between one and two parts per million was employed in the warehouse. It was noted that inhalation of mercury vapors "can damage the brain and kill."

Good riddance!

Check, Check, Check

I imagine one of the most frustrating aspects of working in local government is the inability to provide residents with the instant results they deserve - and that you would like to give.  Often, an elected official is given little or no grace period before he hears the cry of "broken promises!"  Go a little beyond that, and the conspiracy theorists begin their insinuations that the work was never intended to be done - or worse.

The fact is that some things take time.

Establishing railroad "quiet zones" at the Norfolk Southern crossings required much more than money.  Navigating the bureaucracy of the Federal Railway Administration took time.  And the payoff, notwithstanding a few stray horns this past week due to signalling issues, has been worth it - at least to my ears.

The concept of a new limited access highway through Hillsborough probably goes back more than 50 years to the initial construction of Interstate 95.  This "Somerset Freeway" took many forms over the decades, until finally being scuttled in the 80s.  Renewed plans for a 206 bypass have been around for more than ten years.  Interesting to realize that the first shovels went in the ground the same month that the missing link of Route 95 has at last been mapped out.

Hillsborough's "mercury problem" has also been around for decades, but it wasn't until 2001 that our township committee became aware, inadvertently, that most of the nation's stockpile was being stored in our backyard.  Hillsborough officials not only navigated the usual Washington bureaucracy, but also had to deal with the trepidations of the stockpiles new home.  The announcement by Hillsborough mayor Frank DelCore that one-fifth of the mercury was trucked to Nevada earlier this month, and the rest will be going soon, should come as no surprise to those who knew that this issue was much more than a perpetual campaign promise - it was actually a top priority.

Sometimes, those priorities take time.

Scenes from the Hillsborough Family Campout

Hillsborough Township Parks and Rec held their annual Family Campout August 6th and 7th at Ann van Middlesworth Park.

I brought my camera.

Mystery Poles

Still trying to figure out how 200,000 solar panels will power 64,000 homes?

Well, here's another PSE&G mystery for you.

What the heck are these poles that went up earlier this year roughly parallel to the PSE&G transmission line - the one that passes near the Middle School.

Any ideas?  They appear to be in pairs, one on either side of a road or parking lot - as if they were meant to temporarily carry a ground-laid cable over an obstruction.

Solar Celerity?

I woke up one morning last week, looked out the window, and solar panels had descended on Hillsborough.  It almost seems like they arrived overnight.

Actually, it was one year ago today that I first wrote about PSE&G's plan to install 200,000 solar panels on utility poles throughout Central Jersey.  At that time, PSE&G announced that it had awarded a contract in the amount of $200 million to Petra Solar to install the panels which would supply enough electricity to power 64,000 homes.

I immediately had some questions about the math,  If 200,000 panels can supply enough electricity to power 64,000 homes, then doesn't that mean I could power my own home with three or four panels?  Also, does the $200 million cover the cost of the panels as well as the installation?  I certainly hope so, as the guy on the lift and the guy smoking a cigarette easily could - and surely did - put up dozens in a single day.  That would mean just $1,000 per panel - installed.  Hey, what do I need PSE&G for - I can get off the grid for $4,000!

In the story in this week's Courier News, a PSE&G spokesman mentions how the benefits of the solar installation "will be returned to all ratepayers".  Funny, since one year ago, PSE&G was honest enough to tell us that the ratepayers were actually paying for the project through rate increases that would continue until 2028!

Opposition to Claremont Pump Station Location

There was an interesting story in the Courier News last week concerning the proposed location of the pumping station for the new Claremont development sewer system.  If you're not familiar with the details, you can still read the story online here.

Claremont - along with Green Hills, Country Club Homes, and Village Green - was one of the first post-war Hillsborough developments, and was built with residential septic systems, not sewers.


View Larger Map
An aerial view of the Claremont development which straddles Millstone River Road, just north of the Boro.

In 2007, township health officer Glen Belnay advised the township committee about water quality issues and failing septic systems, which prompted the current sewer project.

The majority of affected homeowners were pleased to be part of the $5.5 million project which will be paid for by an assessment on their future sewer bills - but not all.  Some homeowners felt that they were fine with their current septic systems and did not need sewers.

As it turns out, the only suitable location for a necessary sewer pumping station is on a small piece of township owned land that sits right between two homes on Onka Drive.  And it just so happens that those homes are owned by residents that were opposed to the whole project - and certainly are opposed to having the pumping station next to their homes.  Ouch!

Here's a closer look at the houses in question.  The township lot is designated on Google Maps as "Alley Dr."


View Larger Map

I have to tell you, the more I look at this image, the more questions I have.  Look closely and you may form a few of your own.

Pack 89 Wants YOU!

Hillsborough Cub Scout Pack 89, based at Hillsborough Elementary School, is looking for new members.  If your son will be entering first, second, or third grade at HES in September, it's not too late to get started in Scouting.  Even if you're going into fourth grade, we can get you caught up in no time!

Take a look at some of the fun things we did the past year.

Entertained the residents at Avalon Assisted Living.

Built and raced our Pinewood Derby cars

.

Hammed it up at the annual Blue and Gold Dinner.

Checked out the big rigs at the Hillsborough Rescue Squad.

Camped out at Washington Crossing State Park and built an awesome survival shelter.

As well as....

• Camped "in" overnight on the Battleship New Jersey
• Carved Jack-o-Lanterns for our Halloween Party
• Cleaned out and spruced up the flower beds at HES

Interested in joining the fun?  Check out the flyer below.

Click on the image to view and print the flyer.

Hillsborough Family Campout August 6th

There's still time to patch the tent and air out the sleeping bag - Hillsborough's annual Family Campout is coming to Ann Van Middlesworth Park on August 6th.

Click the image to view and print the flyer.

Rotary Fair July 19-24

Big news this year for the Rotary Club of Hillsborough, NJ annual fair - every night is wristband night!

See you there.


Click the image to view and print the flyer.

Playground Fundraiser Swings on Sunday

An event to raise funds to build a universally accessible playground at Ann van Middlesworth Park will be held Sunday, June 27 at Body Shop Total Fitness in Hillsborough. The activities begin at noon and will feature fun physical fitness challenges for men and women.



Click on the images to view and print the flyer.



The playground - which has a price tag of $120,0000 - is an ongoing project of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. Academy members and local volunteers construct the playgrounds in just one day. The playground is designed to be used together by disabled children and their typical peers.


Bringing the playground to Hillsborough was the idea of committeeman Anthony Ferrera who emphasizes that no taxpayer dollars will be used for the project.

Here is a video highlighting similar projects in Las Vegas, Orlando, and other locations.