Mayor David Fried delivered his annual State of Robbinsville Township speech via video on Oct. 4.
This year, the Pay it Forward component, which has been part of Fried’s annual address in recent years, was pushed back to May 2023 due to logistics and time constraints regarding this year’s possible beneficiary candidates.
“There were just too many hurdles to overcome in 2022. Our plan is to hold that event, hopefully bigger and better than ever, in May of 2023,” Fried said. “This is an event we look forward to each and every year. We don’t do anything unless we have all possible resources at our disposal to provide the best possible experience for our beneficiary(s), all of our generous sponsors and the community.”
Donations for Robbinsville families in need are being accepted via PayPal through our SOTT fiscal sponsor, the C.A.R.E. program. Those updated links, as well as a formal release date for Mayor Fried’s video, will be provided soon.
Previous “Pay it Forward” recipients include the Shepherd Family, Quilts for Comfort, Deborah Dauer, the C.A.R.E. Program, Mercer Street Friends Food Bank, “We Love Our R’ville Neighbors” campaign and Kelly Breden.
Since 2015, those efforts have raised over $400,000.
In his speech, Fried thanks his township employees and leaders in administration, the township budget, his achievements, and the open space tax question on the ballot.
The text of his address, which has been lightly edited, appears below.
* * *
I want to begin by thanking our incredible team here in Robbinsville for helping us get through the past few years and for all they do day in and day out. I say it all the time without hesitation, they are the best in the business. I can send them off to fix any broken town in the state and that town would run flawlessly.
Our public works department, led by Chris Rupp is second to none. From maintaining our sewers, to house calls when something needs extra care, it takes heart, and he’s got plenty of it.
Kevin Holt led recreation to a booming 2022, with a tremendous year. Residents asked for, and the town responded with brand-new pickleball courts, four new beach volleyball courts, an inclusive playground and the largest community day in our history after being shut down for two years due to the pandemic.
Our finance department and CFO Debbie Bauer continue to set a high bar throughout the state when it comes to paperless purchasing, earning the township a league of municipalities award.
A very difficult budget year in 2022 didn’t stop us from earning high ratings from both Standard & Poor’s and Best Practices.
Our affordable housing office, headed by Gail Pfister, has been a model of consistency in the face of increased regulations, quotas and market pressures.
In every department in every office, from Beth’s (Senior Center manager Beth Rinyu) notable changes to our senior center, to the highest safety and construction standards led by Roger Fort, and Paul Renauld bringing in many leads for community development with a renewed focus on Town Center South, we work with our constituents to provide the best possible service in our tax and clerk’s offices.
As a town, they have set out to serve and serve, and serve they have. The professionalism and work ethic of our police dispatch and fire departments helped me to sleep better, and our residents should as well, knowing their town is in such great hands.
With an uptick in community activities, you have seen our police and fire departments at a host of events or simply handing out ice cream coupons to our kids wearing bicycle helmets.
Our municipal court continues to outperform just about every other municipality in the county by raising the bar when it comes to case flow, despite running two courts. And what can I say about my business administration team and business administrator Joy Tozzi that hasn’t already been said.
A special focus on Miry Run, where Joy has spent countless hours thoughtfully researching and planning. She has spent a great deal of time with her team applying and obtaining grants as well as heading the MEL (Municipal Excess Liability Joint Insurance Fund) as its chair.
I may get a lot of credit but these are the people that do the heavy lifting day in and day out. The ones that make sure our community remains one of the most desirable places to live, work and play in all of New Jersey. It takes hard work, perseverance and heart to get it right. Their dedication is what gets it done.
I want to thank my wife, Kitt, for her love and support. More now than ever, with both kids away at college, that support is what allows me to accomplish what needs to be done as mayor. As our family life changes, my dedication to this town does not.
Thanks to the Robbinsville School District and the board of education for their partnership. It’s not easy to work together as two separate forms of government. There are many things to take into consideration. Having ideas and the courage to discuss solutions is what makes us special even when those conversations are difficult.
We will continue working together to find ways to make the learning experience better for all of our students, teachers, parents and community members.
What makes politics in Robbinsville different is we have a relationship with our residents. I like to think we’ve built two decades of trust, and they allow us to take chances other towns may be unwilling to take. Our Town Council President Mike Cipriano, Vice President Debbie Blakeley, Chris Ciaccio, Ron Witt and Mike Todd are a huge part of that confidence and trust.
This council wants your input. They want you to attend their meetings. They want you to see their transparency. They want their government to continue to make decisions that are best for the entire town.
I know I speak for council and my staff when I say we all appreciate the feedback and support. We take it all into consideration and we act because of it. Although it sometimes gets lost amongst all the madness and divisiveness on some social media forums, I am very proud of our community for the continued random acts of kindness.
Remember this is your government, your community. Your schools. Make your voices heard. Attend our township council and other public meetings. Keep writing to us, it really does help. It helps formulate our thoughts, and I cannot tell you how many letters we received from residents who come up with things I’ve never thought of.
I want you to know you are being heard. We try to respond on social media as much as we can, but it’s tough to answer complicated questions in tiny snippets. Context often gets lost and things have a way of spiraling out of control. Keep in mind, the best way to reach us is to email administration.
Even though we had to push back this year’s Pay It Forward, we are still collecting for the We Love Our Robbinsville Neighbors Campaign, and our fiscal sponsor, The CARE program.
Thank you to all of our generous sponsors and contributors. Since the start of this initiative, to think that we are approaching half a million dollars raised for our friends, neighbors and organizations in need since 2015, is something I could have never imagined. Thank you.
It’s been a busy few years and a difficult budget year. You will probably have never noticed the many blows we’ve had to absorb because our services remain second to none in Mercer County. Our department heads made incredible sacrifices to position both this year’s budget and future budgets for success.
An item I do hope impacts our 2023 budget is our open apace fund. Robbinsville has the most aggressive open space program in all of Mercer County with thousands of acres preserve since I took office. It’s the only area where I’m proud to say we have the highest tax in the county.
That’s because we have preserved more acres than any other town, and we want to continue to do that because we have proven to be excellent stewards of those funds. We understand at the end of the day, that once properties such as the Thompson tract and the Lavender Farm are developed, they’re gone forever.
As we did in 2016, we are humbly asking residents to support another small increase in the open space tax on the November 8th ballot, Miry Run ended up costing significantly more than we had hoped. We want to make sure we have enough to fund and preserve some of the last substantial parcels in town.
Every house we don’t build typically saves each taxpayer an average of $36,000 per year. Every acre we preserve over the long haul saves us money. It also creates more green space, wildlife and a host of other benefits.
We don’t use preservation willy-nilly. When we preserve something, we think long and hard about it. We have acquired all of our parks through open space. It’s how we buy it. It’s how we preserve it, and it’s how we maintain it.
Miry Run is a great example. Yes, sometimes progress is slow, but mark my words, those 158 acres will be the crown jewel of Robbinsville’s Open Space Program once our collective visions for that property are realized.
We are trying really hard to maintain farmland. It is part of our tradition. It is part of our heritage, and anyone that’s been to the grocery store recently knows why we need to keep and maintain our working farms in the township.
Speaking of farms, I want to give another quick shout-out to Hope Neis and the rec department for an outstanding farmers market season. Hope has continued her amazing work growing greens at our hydroponic farm for our seniors and local food banks to enjoy.
Financially, Robbinsville is very well positioned with near-record home values, and a per capita income of a 176% above the national average. We have a thriving warehouse park with 12 million square feet of lease space.
Perhaps the final line of the Standard & Poor’s rating community call summary really says it all. Strong management committed to making difficult decisions that keep taxes affordable, but maintains the services and quality of life the residents desire. That’s Robbinsville, that’s our team.
We’ve talked in the past about our four basic tenants. I’m adding a fifth this year. The first is make tough decisions, even when those decisions may not be the most popular.
The second is never stop trying to bring in new ratables. Number three is to provide exceptional services. Four is Public Safety.
None of those tenants work unless our community is truly safe, and we have one of the lowest crime rates in the state.
I want to thank Chief Mike Pulaski who has done an exceptional job filling some very big shoes. The chief has a deep roster of outstanding lieutenants, sergeants and patrol officers, SROs (school resource officers) and dispatchers. And we appreciate you all.
The fifth and newest tenant is taking something that may not be your responsibility and making it your responsibility.
We continue to be successful in Robbinsville because we put ourselves out there. We are willing to fail in order to succeed.
As a leader, you have to be willing to go all in even when it may be the unpopular choice. Even when it’s a risk. If you believe deep down what you are doing is right, that’s what a leader does.
We have some very exciting prospects for Town Center South. One of the proposals includes mixed use units that are not expected to add an abundance of schoolchildren to the district.
Planet Fitness is open for business, bringing the Foxmoor Shopping Center closer and closer to full capacity. It was a long difficult road, but we’re almost there.
We are still looking to break ground on our new police station and court next year as part of a shared service agreement with neighboring Hightstown Borough. Our police dispatchers and court personnel deserve nothing but the best.
I’d like to recognize Jodi Mara and our Meals on Wheels team. We have delivered 3,600 meals last year and raised $2,000 on Community Day to fund more than 300 meals for those in need.
Our staff also assists neighboring Hamilton with its Meals on Wheels program each and every week. Another big thank you to the nonprofits, healthcare workers, Jill Swanson at the Health Department, and all the food establishments that stepped up to the plate during and after the pandemic.
Congratulations to the Robbinsville Hamilton Rotary, which celebrated its 30th anniversary this fall. We are very proud of our partnership with the rotary and their mantra of service over self.
Robbinsville has grown almost 15% to over 15,000 residents since the last census in 2010. In addition to that population increase, we’ve had a 24% rise in home values from 2017 to 2021. Most people’s homes are the biggest investments they will ever make. It is our responsibility to try and maximize that investment for them.
Robbinsville is truly an inclusive and diverse community that we should all be very proud of. Having a diverse community also creates diverse thoughts. Now more than ever, we have to be conscious of people’s opinions and be willing to listen. Compromise can only be reached when we are listening to one another, not yelling at one another.
Our partnership with Project Freedom seems to get stronger every year. That along with significant improvements at Newtown Village have helped the town satisfy its affordable housing obligation through 2025.
We’ve kept our promise to improve the mobile home park by investing significantly in not only its infrastructure, but also its residents.
Fire Chief Dan Schaffener continues to do an outstanding job year after year securing grants that have saved taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.
In closing, I just want to take a moment and thank all the mayors throughout Mercer County. Hamilton Mayor Jeff Martin and East Windsor Mayor Janice Mironov in particular have worked side by side with me through thick and thin through these past years/ I really appreciate their friendship and unwavering support.
Thank you to all the residents and local businesses for sticking with us, trusting us, and most of all, for doing your part to keep Robbinsville special. Until we meet again in our Pay It Forward event in May, thank you and God bless you all.
Robbinsville Mayor Dave Fried.,
