Advance Advance Robbinsvill e

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EDITOR

Bill Sanservino (Ext. 104)

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TO ADVERTISE call (609) 396-1511, ext. 113 or e-mail advertise@communitynews.org graduate, Ashley, for all of their love and support. You know, there’s a saying that behind every successful man, there is an amazing woman who manages to keep it all together. Believe me when I tell you, I am no exception. So thank you, sweetheart. why, and I want to thank you for that.

I’d like to thank the Robbinsville School District and the Board of Education for being here and also their parts from the partnership.

The district is also navigating some difficult waters right now, and although we are two separate forms of government with two entirely different budgets, we do work together when we can to share costs and to help make the learning experience for our students better.

The council has our budget and we were able to increase our contribution to the cost of the school resource officers by $152,000.

I’d also like to thank our (state) legislators. Senator Linda Greenstein is here with us tonight. Also assemblymen Wayne DeAngelo and Dan Benson, who had a family emergency. I want to thank them for everything they do and also their efforts in trying to help our schools get their fair share of state aid.

Almost every year I’ve had the rare pleasure of doing something no other town in New Jersey could claim: Stand up here and announce nearly a decade of either flat or reduced municipal taxes. Those were the good times.

I’m not going to sugarcoat it—this year’s going to sting a bit. The 3.7-cent increase, which amounts to an average of $144 per household, did not come because we failed to plan or we failed to act. Quite the contrary.

We took some incredible measures and many sacrifices were made, but ultimately the worst inflation battle since the ‘70s led to runaway costs for nearly everything. For us, trash, pension payments, health insurance and a healthy down payment on our future police and court building were the biggest drivers.

No one hates raising taxes more than me, but know this—Robbinsville taxpayers are still getting a tremendous value for their money. The quality of our services has not—and will not—suffer.

Home values are still up, as are sales of existing homes and there aren’t many available. In fact, home values are increasing faster than every other town in Mercer County except for Princeton.

The investments we want to make this year will have a significant impact on our future budgets.

One of those investments may be outside the box, but that’s what we do when things get a little bit dicey. Right next door to our municipal building is the building formerly occupied by Roma and then Investors Bank. Right now, those 47,000 square feet are appraised at $9.3 million, and it’s vacant.

We’d like to purchase that building and move all of our operations—with the exception of the Department of Public Works, fire and the senior center—under one roof. I know you must be thinking right now, “This guy just told us he wants to raise taxes and now he wants to buy a building?”

The short answer is yes. The long answer is we built our existing municipal building in 2015 because it was absolutely the right thing to do at the time. If there’s one common theme of our daily operations since I’ve been mayor is we believe in doing what’s appropriate in the climate we’re operating in, while always casting an eye toward the future.

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I’d also like to recognize Wayne DeAngelo for his efforts to make our electric grid safer. This quiet work is done behind the scenes without much fanfare. But for those of you who have lived in Robbinsville through the blackouts and have noticed that they’ve been happening less and less, Wayne is one of the big reasons

We love our municipal building. It has been a one stop shop for residents and professionals. We certainly don’t have to move next door, but there may be too much value there to ignore.

When all is said and done, this will turn out to be tax savings. For the past three years, we have been looking for a suitable location and a suitable developer to build our new police station and court in partnership with Hightstown Borough.

I’d also like to thank the mayor of Hightstown, Susan Bluth, who happens to be with us tonight. Together, we’ve been able to save our taxpayers money and provide many interlocal services, including EMS.

We have been sharing our police station and court since Hurricane Irene in 2011. Since COVID, the costs to complete the court police station have exploded to the tune of $14 million. And that’s without cost overruns and inflation by the time we get shovels into the ground.

As we were contemplating our next move, we looked out the eastern window of our existing building and saw a possible solution. Without getting too deep into the weeds when it comes to the math, we think we can sell our existing municipal building, then the land where our existing police and court facilities are on Route 130.

So instead of paying $14 million to build a new building, we can possibly move most of our daily operations next door for the appraised value of $9.3 million or $4.7 million in savings. It’s ambitious, but it also makes sense, both logistically and from a business and budgetary standpoint.

As I said earlier, we like to make decisions based on what makes sense at the time, and this seems to make the most sense. Achieving goals like this vision that I just laid out cannot be achieved without decades of trust from our residents. They allow us to take chances that others might be unwilling to take.

They also cannot be accomplished without the incredible support of my staff, led by our business administrator, Joy Tozzi, and our town council—President Debbie Blakeley, Vice President Mike Todd, Mike Cipriano, Chris Ciaccio and Ron Witt.

The council was a huge part of that confidence and trust, and I’d like to pause here and recognize someone who has decided not to run again.

Councilman Witt is an amazing asset to our community. He is the reason we take on some of our more ambitious building projects. He’s not only a great friend to me on council, but also personally. They say you cannot choose your family. But if I could, I would choose him. Ron, thank you for your service and dedication to Robbinsville.

This council wants what we all want. For our government to be transparent and to make decisions based on what’s best for the entire town. Remember, this is your government, your community, your schools. Never be afraid to make your voice heard. As far as the township, keep writing us. It really does make a

Residents often come up with ideas that we never thought of. As elected officials, we’re constantly learning from you as well. The day that we stop listening to each other, above all the rhetoric and noise, is the day we start moving forward together as a community.

I’d like to thank all of our generous sponsors led by our corporate partners, Route 130 Dodge Jeep, William Penn Bank and their CEO Ken Stephon, Hexa Builders, Legacy Treatment Services, BAPS Charities, and also Mr. Adam Elias.

My friend Adam is running for assembly. He’s an attorney by day and has been opening coffee shops by night. He is deeply involved in our community, and in every way I cannot thank him enough for stepping forward and being one of our lead sponsors tonight.

Thanks to tonight’s very special Pay it Forward event, we are fast approaching half a million dollars raised for our friends, neighbors and organizations in need.

I’d also like to recognize my dear friend Roy Leitstein, CEO of Legacy Treatment Services. Roy has been part of Pay it Forward from the beginning. He is one of the reasons our very first event was a success, and he never fails to step up for those in need.

In fact, I will digress for a moment. When we first needed to get a van, I called Roy and I said, I need a handicapped van.

He said “Great when do you need it?”.

I said, “Next week.”

He’s like, “You know, they take six months, right?”

I’m like, “No.”

It just so happens the Roy was able to step forward and help us. So I always appreciate his hard work. He’s always one of my first phone calls.

As I mentioned at the outset, our department heads have made incredible sacrifices across the board while never compromising the services that they provide to our constituents.

I’m not going to spend a lot of time on open space. However, no town in Mercer County has preserved more acres over the past 18 years than Robbinsville, and although though the community voted down raising our open space tax last November, our clerk’s office has the required signatures to put it back on the ballot on Nov. 7.

That decision will be up to the council, but I would be remiss not to thank the county for their help in our open space process. Starting with our county executive Brian Hughes, and our county commissioners, two of whom are here tonight.

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FRIED continued from Page 7 dynamic duo, is joined by Nina Melker, who has become well-known for her own charity work throughout Mercer County.

I think we can agree one of the biggest stories of the past year has to be one of the election challenges we had here in Robbinsville. Ballots from one of our districts were lost.

Those are the board’s (Mercer County Board of Elections) words, not mine. And we suffered some with faulty machines for the second year in a row. County Clerk Paula Covello is also with us, and I want to thank her for being willing to put money from her budget into purchasing new voting machines for all of Mercer County. I really do think this will go a long way to fix what was broken. So thank you and thank you for being here tonight.

And thanks for our residents for being outspoken and determined to get answers from elected officials. One of the absolute pillars of the five tenets that we talk about every year is keeping our residents safe, and none do it any better than our Robbinsville Police Department, led by Chief Mike Polaski.

Truth be told, I could stand up here and give awards to these guys all night. But when you talk about having a deep roster of capable men and women, Lt. Tom Egan stands out as one of our true anchors of our police team.

He is our Swiss Army knife. He can do it all. This year, Lieutenant Egan and a handful of his brother and sister officers, along with our affordable housing guru, Gail Pfister, worked day in and day out to find shelter for a woman who was left homeless after years of domestic abuse.

Policing in America has never been tougher. The environment our officers work in today has never been more challenging. Our first responders put themselves in harm’s way every day, and the current climate out there is not their fault.

It is our responsibility as elected officials to make sure that they have the best training and the best possible equipment to make sure there are zero compromises in the hiring of people so that we have the best outcomes each and every day. We need to hold ourselves accountable and salute the brave men and women who choose to serve and protect us each and every day.

On April 22, we were reminded just how dangerous policing can be. When Ptl. Connor Boyle was struck head on by a reckless driver on Route 130. Upon watching the video close to 50 times, how Officer Boyle survived that crash with relatively minor injuries, only God knows.

Ironically, it was Conner’s last shift before being assigned to Pond Road (Middle School) as a school resource officer. Safe to say that Saturday shift will be one he will never forget.

Because of Ptl. Boyle’s close call, awareness was raised for the PBA Survivor Fund. This nonprofit is dedicated to providing survivor benefits to the families of PBA members, some of whom have made the ultimate sacrifice. Thanks to the CARE program and your generosity, tonight, we are donating $5,000 to the Survivor Fund in Connor’s name.

We have another individual here tonight that I’d like to recognize. Dave Doran has been a fixture in Robbinsville for decades. He has given of himself to numerous causes and causes and was the driving force of many Irish parades, both here and our neighboring Hamilton.

Dave is currently fighting ALS, and the costs of that, even after insurance, are enormous (Sadly, Doran passed away on June 11, 2023, following the mayor’s speech). Thanks to your incredible generosity over the years, we’ve raised enough money to aid the Doran family with a $5,000 check to help with some of their many expenses.

And there’s something else. We do not name things lightly after people here in Robbinsville. We’ve only done it once in all my years with the Vince Calcagno Senior Center. But tonight, it’s my honor and privilege to announce that we have officially renamed our recreation building in Miry Run as the Doran Center.

I’d also like to thank our fire department, led by Chief Dan Schaffener and his leadership team, along with our EMS workers who are out there 24 seven, keeping our community safe.

In closing, I’d also like to take a moment to thank all the mayors throughout Mercer County—in particular, Mayor Jeff Martin and East Windsor Mayor Janice Mironov. Both of them have walked side by side with me these past few years, and I really appreciate their friendship and unwavering support. They exemplify service even after all of my years of serving as mayor, they continue to teach me.

Thank you to all the residents and local businesses for sticking with us, for trusting us, and most of all, for doing your part to keep Robbinsville special. We do have one last surprise gift for our guest of honor. As many of you may know, the McLaughlins established a Go Fund Me account totaling about $10,000 to help with the mounting costs and also to help preserve their home.

So tonight, in addition to the van, we are working with the family’s mortgage lender, and we are going to present them with another check of $10,000 to get them current. This is truly one of my favorite events of the year, and I really could not do it without each and every one of you. I want to thank you so much for making this possible and for also making people’s dreams possible and when you can, pay it forward.

Robbinsville played without four of its top performers during that time, as injuries decimated the roster. Junior running backs/linebackers Hayden Perusich, Liam Astemborski and Chris Naperkoski all missed the season’s first five games, while do-it-all junior Grayson Hopkins started the season opener against Montgomery only to suffer a season-ending injury in the first quarter.

“If I go from my game scrimmage film to my Montgomery second-quarter film, it looks like we’re a different team,” Patterson said. “And we were, because of a number of guys who weren’t present because of injuries in scrimmages.”

When Perusich, Astemborski and Naperkoski returned for Game 6, Robbinsville won its final four regular-season games and tied Hightstown for the Valley Division title with a 4-1 record.

After losing to Carteret on the last play of the game in a state consolation contest, the Ravens finished 5-5.

“It’s not that the kids we had on the field weren’t any good,” Patterson said. “They were athletes as well. But we had to wrap our heads around the fact we have to now revamp so much stuff on both sides of the ball because guys who were doing it all in preseason weren’t there anymore. Losing one guy is enough, we were down five projected starters at one point.”

But three returned for the second half, and four will be back this year.

And despite losing leading rusher Matt Surtz and some veteran linemen, the Ravens could be even better this year if everyone (knock wood) stays healthy.

“We’ll be back with the ‘hidden Ravens’ that nobody saw at the start of last year,” Patterson said with a laugh.

Leading that brigade is Hopkins, who was on track to be one of the team’s top defensive backs and receivers before injuring his shoulder making a catch against Montgomery. It was his third catch of the young game but last of the season.

“He had some fabulous catches in that firstquarter drive and then he goes down,” Patterson said. “He’s just versatile. We can play him as a slot receiver, an outside receiver, defensive back or inside/ outside linebacker. He’s a kicker/punter and kicks from 45 to 50 yards in practice. Once he came back last year he wasn’t cleared to have contact for the entire season.”

As Hopkins returns this season, he brings more with him than just talent. He brings a presence.

“He’s always positive, just a ball of

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Please call 609.581.5100 to schedule an appointment against Bordentown and Pascack Hills, it would be unbelievable. He had a pick six against Bordentown, he had some circus catches. In just one play, we lost a kicker, punter, outside linebacker and top receiver.”

And in several other plays, Robbinsville losta a ton of depth at running back and linebacker.

So much so, that when Surtz was forced to leave the Allentown game by an official who feared a concussion (which proved negative), the Ravens did not have a running back. The Redbirds were able to rush the quarterback and play pass coverage, virtually ignoring the run game. Thus, an 18-7 lead turned into a 35-18 loss.

Even when Surtz returned the next week against Notre Dame, his yards were limited. He finished with 110 but 80 came on one play as he gained just 30 on his other 14 carries.

That all changed the following week when the wounded returned. After rushing for 491 yards in the first five games, Surtz exploded for 795 in the final five.

“Most of Matt Surtz’s production last year started when he had a 250-pound fullback (Naperkowski) blocking for him,” Patterson said. “He’s a similar size to Surtz. Once he came back he was obviously Surtz’s lead blocker in our iso power stuff, but he himself had 101 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries and also had 11 catches (for 59 yards). That’s just in five games where he was mostly the lead blocker.”

With Surtz gone, Naperkoski will likely get more carries and also block for Perusich and Astemborski, who can both tote the football. Astemborski had 101 yards and a TD on 31 carries upon his return.

Perusich had six carries for 27 yards and two catches for 21 yards, and can also back up first-team Valley Division quarterback Luke Hanuscin if necessary.

“He was the freshman quarterback two years ago and did a great job,” Patterson said. “He knows the package –the run game, pass game. He can carry the ball as a running back, he can play inside linebacker or outside linebacker, and he’s just a great kid all around. He’s as sweet as can be until he puts the helmet on and starts to play.”

Then there is Astemborski, another two-way threat, who Patterson said “is a big kid, and he’s legit. He could be there as a starting running back for any team. So you look at those four, and that was a good portion of the team that nobody saw much of at all for the first half of the season. Once they came back we rolled the rest of the season.”

Robbinsville hopes that roll continues this season. Aside from the four injured players, Hanuscin is back after throwing for 1477 yards and seven TDs and rushing for 250 yards. Alex Giordano and Andrew Freeman are returning receivers and defensive backs, Donnie Ryan had 44 tackles as a linebacker/defensive back, two-way lineman Sebastian Leigh was Valley Division first-team at defensive line and 6-3, 240-pound two-way lineman Patrick Meehan is also back.

Barring another disaster where nearly half the starting lineup gets hurt for any length of time, Robbinsville could succeed this year in a way it hoped to last year.

“The first five games of the season will look different this year if everybody stays healthy,” Patterson said. “I’m not gonna predict wins or losses, but at least the first five games will look like what we thought it would look like last year.

“I don’t see us not being competitive in every game. When the fourth quarter comes around we should be in the mix if not in the lead. If we’re healthy we’ll look more like we did in our last five games last year.”

That’s what happens when the “hidden Ravens” show themselves.