By Anne Levin

Jonathan Bucchere

With the unanimous approval of a resolution by Princeton Council at its meeting on Monday, October 24, Princeton Police Captain Jonathan Bucchere has been promoted to the position of police chief, and Lieutenant Christopher Tash has been named captain. Bucchere is replacing current Chief Chris Morgan, who is retiring at the end of this month.

The promotions will be made official at a swearing-in ceremony during the November 14 Council meeting at Witherspoon Hall. This will be the first such ceremony since former Chief Nicholas Sutter was named to the post eight years ago. Princeton was in lockdown when Morgan was named as Sutter’s successor in 2020, preventing the municipality from holding the celebratory event in person.

At the meeting, Council held public hearings on three ordinances, voting unanimously in favor of all three. One authorizes the establishment of dog parks in the municipality. The other two refer to parking regulations, allowing parking for up to 30 minutes on Witherspoon Street between Nassau and Spring streets, except for the hours of 6-10 a.m. when they are designated as loading zones.

Responding to a question posed on the TapintoPrinceton website about how much the free parking would cost the town, Councilman David Cohen said, “Whatever the cost is, it is lower than the cost if we charged for the parking, just by the nature of our parking system and the way it works.”

Councilwoman Mia Sacks added, “I think we will benefit tremendously from having the ability to run in [to a store or restaurant] quickly. The merchants will, too. I think this is a good exception to our general rule.”

An ordinance was introduced providing free parking for one hour in the Spring Street Municipal Parking Garage seven days a week and for certain holidays, until the completion of the Witherspoon Street Improvements Project’s first phase. The public hearing on the ordinance is November 14.

The meeting also included a brief presentation from Isaac Kremer, executive director of the Princeton Business Partnership (PBP); and a report of the Best Practices Inventory from the town’s Chief Financial Officer Sandy Webb. Kremer said that PBP, which is in its early stages, is working on holiday decorations. “We’re taking the time and really learning about the community so we can effectively serve the interests of businesses, property owners, and the municipality to see how they fit together,” he said.

An update was given on the municipal vehicle fleet, and plans for its eventual updating to environmentally sustainable models. Representatives of PSE&G delivered a presentation on its proposed 12-mile gas main replacement project, to be carried out starting in January.

Frank Lucchesi of PSE&G said that the work, which replaces cast iron pipes with more durable plastic, needs to be done soon because of aging infrastructure, which dates back to 1940 in the oldest parts of town. Another factor is funding from the Board of Public Utilities, which stipulates that the work needs to be done within the 2022-23 calendar year.

The next meeting of Council is on November 14 at 7 p.m., at Witherspoon Hall, 400 Witherspoon Street.