Ewing Township continues to progress with a series of budget and development initiatives, even as the broader economy faces a slowdown.
Mayor Bert Steinmann, in a March interview with Ewing Observer editor Bill Sanservino, emphasized the importance of strategic planning, noting that continued investments in infrastructure and local development will play an important role in sustaining the township’s economic resilience.
Despite rising costs and revenue challenges, the township has plans to support key areas, including affordable housing, road improvements, and commercial and residential developments.
Over the next few months, The Observer will run excerpts from the interview with Steinmann in a Q&A format.
In this month’s article, the mayor talks about the challenges with cradfting the 2025 municipal budget, the expansion of the Trenton-Mercer Airport and the township’s three redevelopment areas—Parkway Avenuue, North Olden Avenue and the zone at the intersection of Lexington, Parkway and Olden avenues.
Ewing Observer: Let’s start by talking about the 2025 municipal budget. How is that shaping up this year?
Steinmann: The way we’ve laid out our budgets year over year, we’ve always had an increase. I never denied that to anyone who tried to play games with it. I mean, every municipality or government knows there will be increases, whether it’s healthcare—healthcare is out of control—payments, insurance, things like that. They keep going up.
I’ve been able to incorporate all of that into an annual budget that’s realistic for the people, and it’s usually been around a penny and a half to 2 cents. I don’t anticipate it to be any more than that this year. With that said, we’ve been able to build a surplus. This last year, we were up about $10.5 million in surplus, so we’re going to use some of that to offset the costs that have increased to keep taxes stable.
I still want to maintain what the bonding and rating companies look for, which is a healthy surplus in our accounts. I never go below $6 million, and I don’t intend to. That seems to be the threshold that everybody’s comfortable with, including the bond rating companies, so that’s what we aim for. What that means for taxpayers is that any money we borrow, we get at a much lower interest rate.
Ewing Observer: What is Ewing’s bond rating?
Steinmann: AA Plus. When I took over, it was in the toilet. It was like a negative, and it took about two or three years to get the bond rating up to a AA. But with all the aggressive construction and programs we implemented, we were able to get our surpluses up, and good revenue was coming in. That bumped us up.
Ewing Observer: So, the bond rating is like a person’s credit score, but for governments. So, essentially, the higher your bond rating, the less it costs to borrow money because of a lower interest rate, correct?
Steinmann: Exactly. We’ve been very fortunate to get to that point. I would like to get a AAA rating, but given where we are, it’s next to impossible. Very few towns have that, and they’re very wealthy towns. I’m not saying Ewing is poor, but we’re not very wealthy.
Ewing Observer: I know Plainsboro was AAA, and maybe Princeton or West Windsor.
Steinmann: Right, but there are very few with that rating. Ewing is doing just fine financially. We’ve been managing our money smartly, never borrowing more than we need.
I never played games, like holding off on raising taxes during election years—that doesn’t make sense because you have to make it up eventually. If we keep the tax rate at about a penny and a half to 2 cents, it’s roughly $60 a year for the average taxpayer. So it’s a minimal amount. People spend more than that on pizza.
Ewing Observer: Yeah, these days, maybe half a pizza.
Steinmann: Right, exactly. Or a dozen eggs.
Ewing Observer: Inflation has been pretty high these past few years, and prices have gone up. What are some of the challenges you faced putting together this year’s budget? How are you keeping costs down while providing the services you need?
Steinmann: I’ve been fortunate with my department managers. We’ve asked them to look in every nook and cranny for savings. We asked them to aim for a 10% reduction from what they requested the year before, and so far, everyone’s been accommodating.
We may not achieve 10% everywhere, but even 2% or 3% savings help. Fuel costs have come down a little, which helped with things like asphalt costs. We’ve been fortunate to catch those commodities on the lower end.
Ewing Observer: There’s a lot of talk about reductions in federal funding that could impact a number of aspects of government. Does Ewing rely on any significant federal funding— either directly or through the state or county—that might be uncertain moving forward?
Steinmann: Yes, we received federal funding for a fire department program—a $3 million grant over the next three years to hire additional firefighters. We’re also going to take over the fire service at the airport with a shared services agreement with the county.
We’re working through the final details now. All our firefighters are trained for those types of fires. We send recruits to Pittsburgh for live training on an airplane, so they’re equipped for that.
I’m not too worried, though. I’ve got a little bit of fear of that, although not a whole, but we’re too far down the rabbit hole to pull back now. I believe the federal funding will continue. We’ve already received some, and the president has indicated that those funds are secure. The state is using our partnership with the county as a model for how counties and towns can work together.
Airport expansion
Ewing Observer: You mentioned the shared agreement with the Trenton-Mercer Aitport. Let’s talk about what’s going on there. The county is already starting construction on the new fire station there, and I would assume they’re getting geared up to start the terminal expansion and the parking garage. Can you discuss the impact in Ewing?
Steinmann: The impact as far as the construction at the site—I believe will be very positive for Ewing Township. Number one, once the construction actually gets started, our local businesses, restaurants and things like that will see more of a boom, obviously, because of those construction workers needing to eat someplace. And they do. They like to go off-site when they do that. So that’s a positive impact.
I’ve made no secret that I’m a big proponent of the airport—always have been. Even when Brian Hughes was county executive, I supported this project 100%. Now with Dan Benson being there as county executive, I’m standing behind him 100% when it comes to this airport.
I think it’s all going in the right direction. It’s good locally for the town, and it’s good regionally for this area. To be quite candid with you, Ewing does benefit more, I believe, from it than some other communities. Hopewell might benefit a little bit too, but we benefit because we have, like I said, restaurants and a lot of people working around here that will actually be employed at the new terminal and for the construction site.
During the construction, there’s probably going to be some impact on local roads with traffic and things like that, but I think it’s nothing that’s insurmountable.
Ewing Observer: Has the county shared with you when they might be looking to get started on construction of the garage and terminal?
Steinmann: I think it’s going to be kind of hand-in-hand with that. The situation now is that all the plans are completed. And in fact, the plans have been submitted to the township planning board for us to go over to make sure everything complies with our codes, because they do have to follow the township codes.
So, we’re already looking at that. And trust me, it’s page after page, and a lot of drawings to go over. I think right now it’s just a matter of funding. If somebody comes up with $150 or $200 million tomorrow, they’re ready to put it out to bid. So, I think it’s that far down the road that they can go ahead and do that.
Ewing Observer: So, right now, at this point, it’s more of an issue of funding than anything else?
Steinmann: That’s exactly right.
Redevelopment
Ewing Observer: Also in that area of the township is the Parkway Avenue redevelopment area, which includes the Ewing Town Center and the old Navy Jet Propulsion site. What’s going on there?
Steinmann: The new town center is actually thriving. They can’t build those apartments fast enough. They go on the market one day and they’re gone the next. With the housing market, it’s really a rental market now. People aren’t owning their homes as much anymore because it’s getting harder to get loans, and the down payment that people need is just not within reach for a lot of them. So, they end up renting. But it’s a great place to rent.
They’re also actively signing leases for the commercial space now. I think they’ve signed one for a place called Turtle Bean, which is like a Starbucks-type of business. They’ll offer coffee, pastries—not donuts—and infusion drinks. That’s already started. There’s a beauty salon going in there, and they’ve been negotiating with a couple of restaurants. Hopefully, those will be completed in the next few month or so. The commercial space is really starting to move forward.
Ewing Observer: Are medical offices allowed there?
Steinmann: Yes, they just signed a lease with Capital Health. They’re putting up a freestanding building right by the railroad tracks. That building will be 30,000 square feet.
Ewing Observer: Are they going to put in an urgent care center or something like that?
Steinmann: No, it will be for physical therapy and fitness training.
Ewing Observer: In terms of phasing, are they ahead of schedule with both the commercial and residential components? I think they were planning to build out the residential portion over the next couple of years.
Steinmann: Yes, I think they’re ahead of schedule. They’ve already started another project that wasn’t supposed to start for another seven or eight months, or even a year from now. That’s the other little workspace on the other side of the park. They’ve already started on that. There’s also another building under construction on Parkway Avenue.
The other building, which is just down the road, wasn’t going to be built for another two or three years, but they’re actively discussing starting construction on that now. I’m optimistic about it. The retail portion has lagged a bit, but for obvious reasons. They want to make sure there are enough people going to these stores. But I think it’s going to catch up soon, so I’m very enthusiastic about it.
As for the Navy jet propulsion site, if you drive by there today, it looks a lot different than it did a year ago. There’s still some cleanup to do, but I’d say 90% of it is cleared. Hopefully, they’ll start construction soon. There has been a bit of a setback because the warehouse market has dried up. It was hot for a long time, but it has cooled down recently.
Ewing Observer: That’s probably because every town is building warehouses.
Steinmann: Exactly. In fact, we had a 300,000-square-foot warehouse planned by the airport, but that’s on hold. They’ve talked to me about some other ideas, so we’ll see where it goes. But the 20,000-square-foot buildings at the front of the Navy jet propulsion site are moving forward.
Ewing Observer: And the plan hasn’t changed since last year when we talked?
Steinmann: No, the plan hasn’t changed. Not saying it couldn’t change in the future, but for now, the warehouse option is still part of the plan.
Ewing Observer: Housing isn’t allowed there because of environmental reasons, correct?
Steinmann: Yes, that’s correct.
Ewing Observer: So, your options are limited.
Steinmann: Yes, it could be something like a data center. Someone did inquire about that, which wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Ewing Observer: What about a cannabis grow or manufacturing facility? Or is that area not zoned for that?
Steinmann: No, it’s not zoned for that. But there are still other opportunities to explore. For now, nothing has changed there.
Ewing Observer: How about the newest redevelopment area, which is at the intersection of Parkway and Lexington Avenues?
Steinmann: That project is much needed, and it has been approved. Our sewer ban was just lifted by the DEP. Previously we couldn’t issue any sewer permits for commercial space until we resolved some issues with the nitrates at the sewer plant. That’s been addressed now, so we’re moving forward with that project. A QuickChek with a gas station is going in there.
Ewing Observer: Which corner will that be on?
Steinmann: It will be on the corner of Lexington Avenue. You know where Larkin’s has a little garage? That’s going to get torn down, and the whole lot will be developed. Across the street, the restaurant that used to be Parkway Pizza is now a Mexican grill. It opened about two or three months ago. We’re still negotiating with the owner of the shopping center to do something with the strip mall.
Ewing Observer: What about the side where the IHOP is?
Steinmann: The IHOP is still there. It’s staying. The QuickChek will be across the street from it.
Ewing Observer: So that accounts for all four corners.
Steinmann: Yes. And on the stretch of Parkway Avenue where Wawa is, they just got their permits released. They’re going to put up an apartment complex there where all that land has been cleared. That’s going to be residential with retail space as well.
Ewing Observer: What about the site in the Parkway Avenue Redevelopment that was owned by the late Sam Marazzo? I believe his daughter is now running it after he passed away. Has there been any talk about doing something similar to what’s happening with the town center?
Steinmann: Sam talked about that, but his challenge was that he wanted to keep the supermarket. Any designs we came up with that mirrored the town center ended up blocking the supermarket, and he didn’t think that was a good idea, so he never followed through with it. It’s not off the table, though.
We can still discuss it. I’d like to see it happen. They could do something different with the grocery store.
Ewing Observer: They could also sell the site to another developer and go from there.
Steinmann: Right, exactly. But his daughter, Mary, who now runs the site, has kept it up nicely. They re-paved the parking lot, which has made a big difference. The new owner of the supermarket has been good to work with, too.
Ewing Observer: How about North Olden Avenue redevelopment? Any projects happening on Olden or North Olden?
Steinmann: Right now, no. Olden Avenue is a tough nut to crack. Many of the business owners are okay with the status quo. We’ve talked to them, but they like things the way they are. They feel like what they have works for them, so they don’t want to see any changes.
We’ve made some headway in certain areas. For example, we had a developer who wanted to do something with the old Ambest Surgical Supply building. They wanted to put a Checkers restaurant there.
We told them they needed to invest in landscaping and other improvements to the property. They didn’t want to spend that kind of money, so we said no. This is a redevelopment zone, and we control what happens there. So, they tried to persuade us, but once I’ve made up my mind, that’s it.
We’re taking every opportunity we can, though. If people come to us for financial help through the Ewing Redevelopment Agency, we provide it, but they’re required to make certain improvements. Sometimes they agree and move forward, and sometimes they don’t want to, so they don’t get the funding.
Ewing Observer: At one point there was money available for façade improvements, correct?
Steinmann: Yes, that’s still available. The problem is getting everyone on the same page to invest. The idea is to make everything consistent, but some business owners just don’t want to do it.
Ewing Observer: It’s hard with an area where the businesses have been there for so long, especially when you have so many curb cuts. Getting everyone to agree is tough.
Steinmann: Exactly. We’ve tried to eliminate some curb cuts and have shared driveways, but some people don’t like that idea. They don’t want people to have to drive an extra 50 feet.
They’ve been doing business this way for so long, and they’re resistant to change. Even when the next generation takes over, they tend to have the same mindset. It’s almost like it’s ingrained in them.
