Setting the re-use of the hospital lands, affordable housing, and studying long-term debt as primary goals for 2006, Township Mayor Phyllis Marchand, recapped 2005 and then looked forward as she was elected by Township Committee last Wednesday to a ninth consecutive one-year term at the Township's annual re-organization meeting.
Just prior to Ms. Marchand's annual "State of the Town" address, Committeewoman Vicky Bergman was sworn into her freshman term and Bernie Miller, having taking oath of office for his second full term, was named Deputy Mayor for the second straight year.
Speaking to a capacity crowd after being sworn in as mayor by Judge Philip Carchman, Ms. Marchand said her primary goals in the coming year would serve as extensions of 2005. The redevelopment of the current home of the University Medical Center at Princeton was at the top of the list. In November, the hospital announced that it would relocate to the current FMC Corp. site in Plainsboro, setting 2010 as an opening date.
In the meantime, both the Borough and Township have grappled with how to rezone the 12-acre hospital site to accommodate new development — likely to be a mix of housing, commercial space, and open space.
Assuming that the hospital receives state approval, Ms. Marchand said, "we need to work closely with our residents to ensure that the former hospital site is rezoned for a use that is appropriate and best serves the needs of the community."
Ms. Marchand added that affordable housing, as dictated in the latest mandates handed down by the state's Council on Affordable Housing, would be a major goal for the coming year. Of the 114 units that COAH is calling on the Township to provide by 2014, about half of that obligation has been fulfilled with the 56 units slated for Elm Court II on Elm Road, five assisted-living units at Acorn Glen, two Habitat for Humanity projects, and one rehabilitation project.
The mayor also vowed to look at the Township's's long-term debt, following the 2005 acquisition of an independent financial advisor to help "map out a capital management place for the future that makes certain that we live within our financial means."
2006 will also see the Township's police force drop from 35 sworn officers to 31. The decision, which caused some tension for Committee from residents who did not agree with the move, falls on the heels of another independent study indicating that the Township Police Department needed trimming. The reduction, which will come in the form of attrition, will not reduce the number of police on patrol, Ms. Marchand said.
Other notable points in 2006, the mayor added, will be the continuation of the ongoing state-funded Route 206 study, the advent of online tax payments, and the undertaking of the Township's fixed asset inventory.
Looking back, Ms. Marchand touted the Township's AAA bond rating, the budding success of the Princeton Public Library, the passage of an ordinance that regulates the amount of impervious surface one is able to build on a property, and the extensive, $8 million road re-paving project as high points in 2005.