Save the Victory Trail & Jacobs Creek Bridge

This past Monday evening, Hopewell Township celebrated the reorganization of our Township Committee, welcoming new Mayor Mike Markulec and new Committee member Kim Johnson. Mayor Markulec expressed his goals and agenda for the coming year in the speech copied below:

I would like to thank the residents of Hopewell Township for the honor and privilege of serving on the Township Committee. The last two years have been both extremely educational and extremely rewarding for me as I’ve learned more about our community and had the opportunity to interact with many of you. I’d like to thank my family for their support; my Mom and Dad who became Township residents last year, my wife Jen who keeps everything running smoothly at home while I’m off at more meetings than I can count, and my boys Michael and Ben who don’t mind sharing their dad with the community. I would like to recognize a few special guests this evening NJ State Senator Shirley Turner, Mercer County Freeholder Dan Benson, Ewing Mayor Jack Ball, and Former Hopewell Township Mayors Bill Cane and John Hart. Last but not least I want to thank my colleagues on the Township Committee who put in long hours away from their families to make Hopewell Township a better place to live and work for all of us.

As we enter 2010 the Township is faced with several challenges and a handful of opportunities that will shape our community for the foreseeable future. At the top of the challenges list is property taxes. While local municipalities cannot resolve this problem on our own, past Township Committees and our dedicated CFO, Elaine Borges, have done any outstanding job of controlling township spending while maintaining a high level of services. As always we will continue to look for shared service opportunities with our municipal partners Hopewell and Pennington, Mercer County, the State, and most importantly the Hopewell Valley Regional School District. Only through working together can we hope to make Hopewell Township an affordable place for our seniors and our children to live in the future.

Preservation of our historic agricultural heritage has been the cornerstone in building our unique rural community in the middle of the densely populated, over developed north east corridor. Over the last decade the Township has preserved thousands of acres of active farmland and open space; not alone but in cooperation with the State, Mercer County, municipal partners Hopewell and Pennington, and non-profit organize like the D&R Greenway, FoHVOS, and the Stony Brook Millstone Watershed. Additionally, Hopewell Township has been a leader in Mercer County in the preservation of our historic treasures, most recently with our purchase of open space property to protect the Harbourton Historic District. We have another opportunity for leadership as we work with the Mercer County, the State, and many interested historical organizations to preserve the Victory Trail for future generations to enjoy. I would also like to thank our Township Administrator and Engineer Paul Pogorzelski for his effort in developing and executing a trail program that links our preserved farmland and open space with the Hopewell Lawrence Trail.

One of my goals two years ago when I was first elected to the Township Committee was to help build a strong healthy vibrant community within the Valley. We have taken many positive steps including the development of the Twin Pines Recreational Facility, phase one due to be completed this spring, first annual 4th of July fireworks, and many new and innovative programs run by Judy Niederer through the Township Recreation Department. The Youth Advisory Board is the driving force to bring a Youth Activity Center (called The YAC) to the Valley, giving our teens a safe educational environment for after school and weekend activities. We also completed a community wide survey last year affirming the need for and helping scope a new senior center, a project I expect will gain momentum in 2010.

I am excited for the potential that 2010 brings and again I am extremely grateful for your support and the opportunity.