Explainers
Articles
Longer pieces that take one question at a time and answer it from the record. Each one ends with the documents and meeting video it is built on, so you can check it.
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Allen Road Safety in Bernards, Explained: The Public Comment, the Mayor's Statement and the County's Road
What the township record shows after a resident died from being struck in an Allen Road crosswalk in October 2025: 17 public-comment entries at four Committee meetings, the Mayor's January statement on engineering studies, the township's safety steps in 2026, the county's role on CR 652 and the reported tort claims.
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Bernards' 2026 Budget and Your Tax Bill, Explained
Who sets each part of a Bernards tax bill; how the 2026 municipal budget moved from temporary appropriations to adoption; what it spends and how it is funded; the average-home figures; the pay-as-you-go capital plan and the absence of municipal debt; surplus, the 2025 audit, tax bills, appeals and the tax sale; where the records describe the numbers differently; and what residents can do.
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Bernards' Data-Center Ban, Explained: What Ordinance #2599 Prohibits and How It Passed
What Ordinance #2599 defines as a data center, what it leaves out, how the office zones changed, the Planning Board's review, the votes, and what was said, with a discrepancy in the minutes set side by side.
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Deer Management in Bernards, Explained: The Community Program, Its Advisory Committee and Its Budget
How Bernards manages its deer herd: the community-based program renewed for 2026-2027, the advisory committee that runs it, the budget lines that pay for it, and the hunting closures at English Family Woods.
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Fire and EMS in Bernards, Explained
Who answers fire and medical calls in Bernards and how they are paid for; the 2026 budget and capital items; the two Motorola radio orders; the length-of-service awards program; fire prevention staff and fees; volunteer appointments; and what residents can do.
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Bernards Flooding and Stormwater, Explained: The MS4 Mapping Redo, the Culberson Road Study and Township Easements
What the township did on stormwater from November 2025 to October 2026: why it rescinded and re-awarded its state-required MS4 mapping, the Culberson Road storm sewer study, two federal funding requests, the conservation and drainage easements it accepted, and where residents can find flood information.
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Bernards' Fourth Round Housing Plan, Explained: 24, 198 and the Court's Certification
What Bernards' 2025-2035 affordable-housing numbers mean, how 198 was reached, how the plan meets it, the zoning and votes behind it, the court's 2026 certification, Ridge Oak IV and the trust fund, with the records' differing dates set side by side.
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Bernards and the Highlands Plan, Explained: Planning Area, Opt-In and the 2026 Debate
What it means that Bernards is in the Highlands Planning Area, what conforming would involve, how the question came up during the 2025 housing debate, the initial-assessment grant, and what Committee members said in October 2026.
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Bernards Land-Use Register, Explained: Applications, Zoning Ordinances and the Master Plan, 2025-2026
A register of the Planning Board and Zoning Board applications and land-use ordinances from November 2025 to October 2026 that do not have their own LocalWhy page, with votes, plus how the boards work and how to follow them.
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The Former Lord Stirling School, Explained: The Redevelopment Study and the Planning Board Hearing
What the Township Committee's 3-2 vote on Nov. 11, 2025 set in motion at 99 Lord Stirling Road and 25 Sherwood Drive, what an "area in need of redevelopment" means, who has spoken, and where the Planning Board's hearing stands.
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131 Morristown Road, Explained: From 119 to 125 Townhouses and a 4-3 Vote
How the proposal to replace an office complex on Route 202 with age-restricted townhouses changed over five Zoning Board hearings, what relief it needed, who spoke, and why a 4-3 vote did not approve it.
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Bernards Parks and Recreation, Explained: The $1.84 Million Pleasant Valley Request, New Turf and Courts, the Cricket Pitch and 2026 Fees
Where the federal request for a Pleasant Valley Park culvert and paths stands, what the township spent on parks in 2026, the cricket pitch, 2026 pool, golf and park fees, and the Kennedy-Martin-Stelle Farmstead.
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The Bernards Township Police Department in 2026, Explained
The department's size and 2026 budget; reaccreditation; the eight patrol officers hired and the May promotions, including a resolution that names two different officers; the $835,000 federal radio grant; school officers and crossing guards; vehicles and cameras; the lobby, the online reporting portal and the shared court; and what residents can do.
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Ordinance #2603, Explained: Upkeep Rules for Non-Residential Properties
What Bernards' August 2026 property maintenance ordinance requires of non-residential properties, how it is enforced, which properties are exempt, and how the Committee voted.
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Bernards Roads and Paving, Explained: The Rejected 2026 Bids, the Lake Road Project and Who Fixes Which Road
Why the township rejected every bid for its 2026 paving program twice, what the Lake Road project includes and when it is due, the 2025 road contract and its change orders, state aid, paths, the October 2026 parking and stopping ordinances, and which roads belong to Somerset County.
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The Bernards Township Sewerage Authority, Explained: Who Runs the Sewers, the Nov. 24 Rate Hearing and the 2026 Contracts
How the Sewerage Authority is set up and tied to the township, what its 2025 audit shows, the Nov. 24, 2026 hearing on 2027 sewer rates, the contracts and change orders it published in 2026, and the one legal matter in the record.
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150 Allen Road, Explained: The 2024 Denial, the Lawsuit and the Remand
What Signature Acquisitions proposed at 150 Allen Road, why the Zoning Board denied it in 2024, what the owner asked for afterwards, what the court ordered on Sept. 29, 2026, and what happens next.
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Bernards Trash and Recycling, Explained: County Curbside Recycling, Clean Communities and the Pill Hill Landfill
How curbside recycling works in Bernards under the 2026 county agreement, what the township budgets for solid waste, the Clean Communities grant, air monitoring at the closed Pill Hill landfill, clothing-bin licenses and the refuse rule for commercial properties.
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The timeline puts every dated step on one page, with a citation on every entry.