Our township committee’s reorganization meeting was held on Jan. 6 on a snowy evening in front of residents, dignitaries and family of our Mantua elected officials. Newly elected Committeeman Jason Snyder was administered the oath of office by State Senator John Burzichelli. Incoming Deputy Mayor John Legge was sworn in by his wife, Patricia A. Legge, Esq., and my daughter, Ashley M. Zimmerman, Esq. administered the oath of office for me as mayor for a third term.
By now, you should know that South Jersey Magazine named Mantua Township as the #3 Best Town in Gloucester County out of the 24 municipalities, and the #10 Best Town in South Jersey out of the 169 municipalities for 2024. This ranking is based on a culmination of categorical variables including affordability, public safety and schools, etc. We will continue our proactive initiatives by way of effective visionary leadership, and we will strive for nothing but betterment in 2025.
A primary initiative will be attempting to bring-in another restaurant to our community with an available retail consumption liquor license by putting this license out to bid early this year, and with potentially reviving an existing license that has been sitting dormant with its current owner. I also want to again revisit the idea of marketing in an effort to entice a potential grocery store back to our community.
I feel like a broken record, but am confident that the world class Edelman Fossil Park & Museum of Rowan University will finally open this coming March at 66 Million Mosasaur Way (a road we officially named by township ordinance last March). Who would have thought that deep beneath this former marl pit behind Lowe’s was the home of 50,000 – 66 million year old fossils including sharks, sea turtles and mosasaurs from the cretaceous period.
The museum has put Mantua Township on the map worldwide, and is expected to attract an estimated 200,000 guests annually. This will boost our economy, provide educational opportunities, and create jobs in our community. The added bonus is that our community will generate $623,000.00 in revenue from this project by the end of this year. This is a win – win for our great community.
We recently adopted a new township code for rental registrations that will take full effect in 2025. This new code implements landlord registration fees for rental properties, and limits short-term rentals for a term of no-less than thirty-days. This proactive initiative by the township committee will eliminate one-night rentals and make the increasingly popular “pop-up parties” prohibitive, and will prohibit short-term rentals to anyone younger than twenty-one years of age. This initiative will also prohibit the lease or rental of amenities within a residential dwelling, such as prohibiting residential pool rentals, etc.
It warms my heart to know that we have continually been a model of excellence for free and cost effective services provided to our senior citizens here in Mantua Township. The Township Committee will be sponsoring the following senior dinners free of charge at the Community Center on E. Mercer Avenue this year. To our senior friends, please save the dates and mark your calendars. All dinners begin at 5:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 18
Tuesday, May 20
Tuesday, June 17
Tuesday, July 15
Tuesday, Aug.19
Tuesday, Sept. 16
Tuesday, Oct. 21
To register for senior dinners and to get on our mailing list to receive senior citizen calendars and other information please email Deputy Clerk, Pam Levine at plevine@mantuatownship.com or call (856) 468-1500 Ex. 113.
Chestnut Branch Park became “dog friendly” last year, and I’m happy to report that we as a community adjusted well to this change. We’ve encountered virtually no problems, and the overwhelming majority of our park goers have thoroughly enjoyed bringing their fur babies to the park. We will continue this practice this year and into the future.
Our police department has done a phenomenal job eradicating crime from our community and enhancing the police-community partnership. After a very successful inaugural “Police in the Park” event last year, we anticipate a bigger and better program slated for September of 2025.
We will be working with a new website designer and manager in order to completely upgrade our township’s website. Our existing site is ten years old and is in drastic need of various improvements. Our main goal is to make the website more user friendly and interactive for residents. The new website will improve functionality and payment capabilities, engage residents by enhancing our web presence and ability to build on-line, and will allow our residents and businesses to easily fill-out and submit documents and applications. We are excited to have our more modernized page up and running early this year.
I will continue to be a transformational leader who prioritizes fiscal responsibility. Communication and transparency will always be paramount. My weekly mayor’s messages and periodic mayor video updates will have a new and improved look with our new web design and can be found on our social media platforms and on our website at mantuatownship.com/mayors-message. The first two videos of this year will be introductory messages with Committeeman Steen and Committeeman Snyder.
On behalf of the entire Township Committee and I, we look forward to continuing our service with honesty, integrity and trustful leadership.
