By Dave Fried
The 2014 municipal calendar year was filled with accomplishments.
From the long-awaited opening of the Amazon fulfillment center, to our World Series champion girls’ softball team, to a pivotal agreement with the Robbinsville Schools and our police department to provide enhanced security for our students, to the unveiling of Foxmoor Community Park and fourth consecutive budget without a municipal tax increase, it was a very busy year.
We knew Amazon would be unrivaled when it came to delivering goods to its customers around the world via its state-of-the-art, 1.2-million square foot facility on New Canton Way. What we didn’t see coming was the incredible level of genuine community support general manager Tim Hall and the rest of the Amazon team have given our town. Amazon’s recent donation of 50 Kindle Fire tablets to the Robbinsville School District, along with its support of our local teams and charities are just the tip of the iceberg regarding the company’s generosity.
The remarkable run by our RLL girls was punctuated by a fourth trip to the Little League Softball World Series, where they finished a perfect 22-0 postseason with the world title. Our girls, along with head coach Mark Walsh and his staff represented our town like the champions they are. For a small town such as Robbinsville to consistently develop good, talented kids with such big hearts is a testament to both the RLL and their parents.
With the help the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office, the township and the school board were able to reach a memorandum of agreement to allow our officers access to security cameras inside our three schools. When you think about children, it is natural to want the highest quality education. But the most important thing is having them all come home at the end of the day.
Administration, with the support of council and great cooperation from Investor’s Bank, recently moved to purchase the property adjacent to the bank’s Route 33 headquarters in order to build our new municipal building. After paying rent for nearly a decade, this purchase is a sound investment and fits very well with what we want to do long-term.
Finally, I was proud to have the recent opportunity to help Teaneck resident Hector Ferrer and other residents of that North Jersey town who are against political correctness. Ferrer reached out to us looking for help, and with the assistance of Chasing New Jersey (My9NJ.com) we were able to get both the town Christmas tree—dark for three years—along with its Nativity scene lit on Dec. 15.
Ferrer has since asked his town to adopt an ordinance that states all religions are to be treated equally. It doesn’t matter what religion you are. At the end of the day, an attack any religion is an attack on all of them. Video of the Chasing New Jersey segment on Teaneck can be found on the township website and our Facebook page.
Happy New Year everyone!
Dave Fried is the Mayor of Robbinsville.
