Living in one place for a long time, it’s hard to notice the evolutions of your hometown.
At times, such is my relationship with Hamilton. If you asked me if Hamilton was any different now than it was eight years ago, my first reaction would be, “Not really.” But we’ve been through a lot the last eight years, and it’s actually quite amazing to see how much has changed in Hamilton since January 2006.
I dug through the Hamilton Post archives to see what the topics of the times were each January of the newspaper’s existence. The Post premiered in September 2005, so this will be our 9th January—enough time to see some interesting and meaningful developments.
Really, for me, paging through editions from the past gave more clarity in terms of the present. It was nice to step back and see just how we got from Point A to Point B. I hope it has some value for you, as well.
January 2006 – Republicans Tom Goodwin, Dave Kenny and Dennis Pone took office as Hamilton Township councilman. Two months earlier, the trio of newcomers defeated a slate of Democrats backed by Mayor Glen D. Gilmore, including incumbent council president Wayne DeAngelo. The win gave the Republicans a 3-2 advantage on a council formerly full of Democrats.
DeAngelo (who now is a multiterm state assemblyman) told the Post then that the Klockner Woods controversy may have been his undoing. The Klockner Woods saga, if you don’t recall, dealt with 51 acres in the northwest portion of Hamilton that the township agreed to buy for $4-million, several years after selling it to a developer for a far smaller amount. Klockner Woods would remain a huge issue through 2006 and 2007, including in the 2007 mayoral election.
In business, the Post seemed pleased to have a bona fide coffee shop in town: Route 33’s Brewed Attitude. That location later changed hands and became another coffee place, Mug and Muffin, before changing ownership again in 2010, this time transitioning to an Afghan restaurant, which is still there today.
January 2007 – Republicans gained even more ground in November 2006, when former school board member Kelly Yaede was elected to serve the year remaining on Chuck Plumeri’s vacated council seat. It was Yaede’s first time elected to a municipal office.
With the GOP enjoying a four-person majority on the board, it continued to push back against the Gilmore administration. It voted in December 2006 to overturn the legislation establishing a redevelopment area around Hamilton’s train station, effectively stopping a transit village with 900 residential units planned for the area.
There was also an outcry about a plan across the township, near the Robbinsville (then-Washington Township) border, for a bypass road that would divert Route 33 away from Washington Town Center and to U.S. 130 at South Gold Road. The project, had it gone through, would have allowed Washington to narrow the current Route 33 into a low-speed boulevard more suitable for a high-density, pedestrian-friendly development. Robbinsville officials still contend their town’s “city center” doesn’t make sense with a major highway slicing it in half.
Before the bypass road became a conversation topic in the council chambers in December 2006, it had been dropped from the state DOT’s plans. Still, some Hamilton residents were worried about the cost and traffic implications of the bypass. Robert Burke, president and broker of Maguire Burke Real Estate, said he had a lot to earn from such a road. He had plans to build a Target-like department store with four or five freestanding commercial sites on the adjacent land, according to an article in the Post about the meeting.
January 2008 – “Local entrepreneur” John Bencivengo prepared to take the mayor’s office after knocking off incumbent Glen Gilmore by about 500 votes in November. The 2007 election swung in the Republican’s favor after the township released a financial statement showing it had a $5-million deficit.
Yaede won her first full term on council, and Kevin Meara returned to council after a several year hiatus, this time as a Republican. (Previously, he had served on council as a Democrat.) Election Day 2007 gave the Republicans total control of the municipal government, something they’ve yet to relinquish.
Meanwhile, Gilmore returned for a soul-searching trip to Spain swearing he wouldn’t run to be mayor of Hamilton again.
True to his word, Gilmore has found a new niche since leaving office: social media. Forbes magazine named him a “Top 50 Social Media Power Influencer,” and he also has been listed as a “Top 50 Social Media Blogger.” As of Dec. 3, 2013, he had 164,785 followers on Twitter.
The Hamilton school district also had some retooling to do in January 2008, after voters rejected a proposal a month earlier to borrow $81.25 million, through bonds, to build an upper elementary school next to Crockett Middle School. The 150,000-square-foot school would have been for grades 5 and 6, and would have eased crowding at Grice and Reynolds middle schools, as well as allowed elementary schools to have designated rooms for art and music classes. As of today, the district still hasn’t solved the problem of how to provide facilities like these.
Heading back to Route 33, Philadelphia sandwich shop Tony Luke’s opened a franchise in Hamilton in late 2007, next to Haldeman Ford. Cheesestakes and roast pork Italian sandwiches didn’t last long, though. The business and a subsequent, similar one closed, leaving room for what is now a Subaru dealer.
Also on Route 33, DeLorenzo’s Tomato Pies opened its first satellite location across the Robbinsville border in Washington Town Center. The owners said at the time they had no intention of closing their original location on Hudson Street in Chambersburg. Four years later, in January 2012, they changed their minds.
January 2009 – The start of 2009 was quiet time for the Hamilton Post. In our one newsy article, we wrote about how the Hamilton Township school district had been cracking down on students who wore pajamas to school.
January 2010 – The all-Republican council and Republican mayor John Bencivengo had settled into their roles by January 2010, leaving behind the political bickering of 2006-07 and the financial uncertainty of 2008-09.
Instead, the Post featured nuts-and-bolts stories, like examining the township public works department’s purchase of 4,500 gallons of beet juice. Public works hoped the solution would help the township beat icy roads.
DPW also had begun filling some of its vehicles with an ethanol-mix fuel called E85 that proponents said was more environmentally friendly. A Hamilton Township press released said the municipality was the first government entity in New Jersey to use E85 in its vehicles.
January 2011 – The Trenton Steel indoor football team began preparing for its first—and only—season in early 2011, and officials touted the progress at the in-progress Yardville Solar Farm.
The owner of Nathan’s Famous hot dog restaurant in the Shoppes at Hamilton spoke about his business’ struggles, which he attributed to the shopping center’s location and lack of access. He really wanted a traffic light to help traffic on U.S. 130 South enter the center, but Nathan’s closed before it became a reality.
On Route 33, a multimillion-dollar renovation of Hamilton Plaza began, promising to update the center and replace the former locations of Fezziwig’s Restaurant, Stevens Furniture and Blockbuster Video with a larger ShopRite and pad sites for more restaurants. In my column that month, I wrote the renovations allowed us to find “hope in a backhoe.”
January 2012 – The Hamilton Township School District reached new heights athletically, as the Steinert High School football team qualified for the state championship football game. Despite their 47-28 loss to Neptune in the final, the Spartans raised the bar for football in the township. In the classroom, though, Hamilton schools struggled, as the district fought to get out of federal District In Need of Improvement designation.
In business news, Robbinsville Thriftway, formerly Marrazzo’s, had closed its doors after Thanksgiving 2011. The Foxmoor Shopping Center that straddles the Hamilton-Robbinsville border on Route 33 still hasn’t found a replacement.
January 2013 – Hamilton Township ended 2012 on a turbulent note, with a federal court finding John Bencivengo guilty of five corruption charges levied against him that spring. Bencivengo resigned his post as mayor, and council unanimously appointed Kelly Yaede to replace him.
Yaede took to her new role as mayor quickly. In December 2012, she said the problems of the last six months had gone away, and it was a “new day” in the township. Employees in town hall agreed with her.
It was a good time for Yaede’s alma mater, Nottingham High School, as well. The Northstars one-upped the 2011 Steinert football team, winning the township’s first state title in football.
In other good news, The Shoppes at Hamilton finally got its traffic light, although retailers said they hadn’t seen an immediate boost to business.
January 2014 – Kelly Yaede has won re-election as mayor, and a pay raise to boot. Four Republican council members also return to their posts. Their wins ensure a all-Republican government in Hamilton until 2015—if nothing unexpected happens.
But the past shows nothing is for sure. Well, nothing except change.
