What Branchburg is deciding, from the public record.
In Branchburg now: the two school bond questions on the November 3 ballot; Route 202 safety at Holland Brook Road, after the mayor’s Oct. 28 letter to NJDOT; the $18.06 million municipal annex bond the Township Committee adopted Sept. 28; the Fourth Round housing plan, certified by the court in April; and the 2026 budget, which raised the municipal levy 9.98%. Each issue has its own page with the timeline, documents and meetings behind it.
November 3: one Township Committee seat, three Board of Education seats, two County Commissioners and the two school bond questions are on the ballot. Polls are open 6 a.m.–8 p.m. The bond questions, from the record →
LocalWhy is a non-partisan publisher. Every page cites the township document, court record or meeting it rests on, so you can check each claim yourself. See every issue.
Two school bond questions on the ballot: Question 1, $15,028,799 for Stony Brook, Whiton and Branchburg Central Middle School; Question 2, $19,852,100 for a Stony Brook addition, effective only if Question 1 also passes. State debt-service aid is 40% of annual debt service on eligible costs.
255
New affordable homes Branchburg must plan for in 2025–2035, the obligation settled with Fair Share Housing Center (Resolution 2025-70) and certified by a Superior Court consent order of April 15, 2026.
+9.98%
The rise in the 2026 municipal-purpose tax levy, to $16,504,732 — $1,497,931 above 2025 — in the budget the Township Committee adopted April 27, 2026, alongside a $2,671,898.30 open-space levy.
Keep up with what the boards are doing.
Where things stand
Seventeen issues in motion
Reviewed October 31, 2026, against the Township’s minutes and agendas. Each card says what has been decided, what has not, and where to check.
Two questions on the ballot
Last moved
The school bond referendum
Voters decide two questions on November 3: School Bond 1, $15,028,799 for Stony Brook School, Whiton Elementary School and Branchburg Central Middle School, and School Bond 2, $19,852,100 for improvements and an addition at Stony Brook, effective only if Question 1 is also approved. The ballot states state debt-service aid of 40% of annual debt service on eligible costs.
The Board of Education approved both questions unanimously at its August 13, 2026 special meeting, by its minutes. The referendum is the Board of Education’s; the Township Committee’s minutes record no action on it.
Data centers came up in public comment at the Township Committee twice in 2026: on July 27 a resident asked for an ordinance prohibiting them, and on September 14 a resident asked the Township to weigh their benefits and drawbacks before any ban.
Members responded at both meetings. On September 14 the Mayor said the data centers now in the Township provide positive ratables and that he does not expect more in the near term. The Committee has introduced no ordinance.
On September 28 the Committee adopted Ordinance No. 2026-1518, 5–0, appropriating $18,060,000 for a municipal annex, including an $860,000 down payment, and authorizing $17,200,000 in bonds or notes. The Mayor said the annex will house a new Police Headquarters and Emergency Management Office, partly offset by a $2.25 million federal grant.
The Mayor said the Township is still in discussions with the Board of Education to acquire Old York School. The 2026 capital program separately lists $20,000,000 for Municipal Complex Improvements.
After a fatal crash at Route 202 and Holland Brook Road on Oct. 26, Mayor James Schworn wrote NJDOT on Oct. 28 demanding immediate closure of all unsignalized crossings and U-turns on the highway, citing four fatalities over two years. On Oct. 30 he said the township was advised NJDOT is “actively working toward a solution,” and said closing the intersection without a comprehensive traffic safety assessment would shift risk rather than resolve it.
NJDOT closed the Holland Brook Road U-turn in December 2025, by the Administrator’s report, and in March 2026 the Administrator said a signal at Holland Brook Road should be in place within a year.
The boards approved a Route 202 self-storage building, a County Line Road plant expansion, a 40 Harlan School Road addition and a trade school at 3087 Route 22 East. The 40-patient treatment facility at 953 Route 202 was carried to the Board of Adjustment’s Dec. 1 meeting, and the indoor sports complex at 22 Readington Road is noticed for a Nov. 10 special hearing.
October agendas listed a hotel-to-apartments conversion at 968 Route 202, a school expansion at 1941 Holland Brook Road West, a drive-through restaurant at 204 RVCC Drive and a building at 3083 Route 22 East; their minutes were not yet posted on October 31.
Branchburg’s 2025–2035 obligation is 255 new affordable units, settled with Fair Share Housing Center and certified by a Superior Court order of April 15, 2026, with monitoring through June 30, 2035. The plan meets it with 208 units plus 63.5 bonus credits.
The Committee adopted the implementing ordinances 2026-1507 (the AH-8 zone), 2026-1508 (Evans Way) and 2026-1509 and the plan’s resolutions on March 9, 2026, each 5–0. The mechanisms, including the Evans Way and Vollers projects, are still listed as proposed.
The Committee adopted the 2026 budget on April 27 (Resolution No. 2026-88, 5–0) after a public hearing at which no one spoke. It appropriates $28,437,328.59 and raises the municipal-purpose levy 9.98%, to $16,504,732, plus a $2,671,898.30 open-space levy.
The 2025 audit, with no recommendations, was acknowledged September 14, 2026. The 2027 budget has not yet been introduced.
Comcast applied in September 2025 to renew its municipal consent to operate Branchburg’s cable system. The Committee held the public hearing on December 8, 2025, where a Comcast representative gave an overview and answered questions.
The Township Attorney said the next step is an ordinance setting the renewal terms. None had been introduced as of the Committee’s October 26, 2026 agenda.
Equipment funded; new headquarters bonded
Last moved
Police, fire and emergency services
Since November 2025 the Committee has adopted a $1.2 million radio bond for the emergency services, $240,000 for police vehicles and equipment, $150,000 for volunteer fire-company gear, a towing ordinance and an e-bike ordinance, and three patrol officers were sworn in.
Fire and rescue services are 100% volunteer, by the Mayor’s February 2026 message; the 2026 budget lists 29 police officers. The new police headquarters is tracked as the municipal annex.
The 2026 budget schedules $2,540,000 of road improvements. The Township paid Schifano Construction $996,214.10 for resurfacing on two 2026 bill lists and adopted $1,348,000 in Public Works equipment ordinances (2026-1514 and 2026-1517).
The Township is working with Norfolk Southern toward a permanent quiet zone at the Lehigh Road rail crossing; the temporary quiet zone expires in spring 2027. Route 202 is a state highway and the Picket Place bridge a county project, each tracked on its own page.
The 2020 sewer-service MOU with FH Golf Partners covers a 240-unit Readington-side proposal capped at 60,000 gallons per day, with deadlines extended by Resolution 2023-216 to Dec. 31, 2026 (permits and approvals), 2027 and 2030.
On July 13, 2026 the Committee met in executive session on litigation FH Golf Partners initiated over sewer access, then adopted Resolution 2026-143 supporting the Upper Raritan Water Quality Management Plan amendment, 5–0.
Voters approved the 2022 Route 22/28 land-acquisition question, 2,894 to 2,045. The Committee voted in October 2025 to move a 32-acre parcel into open space for a park, and in January 2026 renamed its Parks, Recreation and Open Space Committee (Ordinance 2026-1506).
On September 28, 2026 the Administrator said signs have been ordered for two new open-space parcels, on Station Road and South Branch Road, with a dedication date not yet set. The 2026 budget levies $2,671,898.30 for the open-space trust.
The Committee introduced floodplain Ordinance No. 2026-1519 on October 12, 3–0 with two members absent, to keep Branchburg in the National Flood Insurance Program under new flood maps effective Nov. 13, 2026 and NJDEP’s climate-adjusted flood elevations.
The October 26 agenda said the public hearing would be carried to November 9 for the Planning Board’s consistency review, which was on the Board’s October 27 agenda.
The March 18, 2026 fire at the Red Rock Preserve development displaced approximately 60–80 residents by the Township’s March 20 estimate, with no lives lost. County Social Services, the Red Cross and the Office of Emergency Management helped residents find temporary housing.
On April 13 the Mayor said residents would be informed when the fire report is available.
County design funds programmed for 2027
Last moved
The Picket Place bridge
Somerset County is replacing County Bridge No. C0609, which carries Picket Place (County Route 567) over the South Branch Raritan River. The project is in Local Preliminary Engineering.
The regional FY2026–2029 Transportation Improvement Program estimates $18.616 million in all: $1.9 million for design in 2027, $50,000 for right-of-way in 2028 and $15.8 million for construction in 2030–2035.
Ordinance 2026-1508, adopted 5–0 on March 9, 2026, replaced the 2022 Evans Way warehouse plan with up to 300 apartments and 100 townhouses, 80 of them affordable, on the 38-acre lot. The Planning Board found it consistent with the Master Plan on February 10.
The smaller lot keeps its approved 30,000-square-foot warehouse, which the Planning Board let proceed as a first phase on October 28, 2025. The housing still needs site-plan approval.
After polling residents, the Township said in September 2025 it would design a sewer extension only for the five-home “A-Green” area off Miller Avenue, paid by assessment, and rebuild Miller Avenue at no cost to residents; the larger areas were dropped as too costly.
Township sewer rates rose under Ordinance 2025-1503, adopted November 24, 2025, 5–0.
Public meetings and deadlines where residents can act. Meeting dates can move, so each one links to where to confirm it.
Early in-person voting
Branchburg voters may use any of Somerset County’s early-voting sites. Hours 10 a.m.–8 p.m. Mon–Sat, 10 a.m.–6 p.m. Sun; the site list is on the county’s sample ballot.
One Township Committee seat, three Board of Education seats, two County Commissioners and the two school bond questions. Polls open 6 a.m.–8 p.m.; a secure ballot drop box is at the Municipal Building.
The next regular meeting, 7 p.m. in the Municipal Building courtroom. The October 26 agenda carried the public hearing on floodplain Ordinance 2026-1519 to this meeting. Check the agenda before attending.
A continued special hearing on Commerce Park Investors XII’s adaptive-reuse application is noticed for 7:30 p.m.; the notice says any interested person may appear and speak when the case is called.
The Board of Adjustment carried the 40-patient treatment-facility application to its Dec. 1 meeting without further notice, by its Sept. 16 minutes. Confirm against the Board’s agenda before attending.
Under the extended 2020 sewer-service MOU, all permits and approvals for the proposed sewer improvements must be secured by this date or the MOU expires unless extended in writing. FH Golf Partners has since initiated litigation over sewer access, which the Committee discussed in executive session on July 13, 2026.
Voters decide School Bond 1 ($15,028,799 for Stony Brook, Whiton and Branchburg Central Middle School) and School Bond 2 ($19,852,100 for a Stony Brook addition, effective only if Question 1 passes) in the Nov. 3, 2026 general election. Polls are open 6 a.m.–8 p.m.
Mayor James Schworn's letter to NJDOT Commissioner Priya Jain formally requested the immediate closure of all unsignalized crossings and U-turns along Route 202 in Branchburg, a meeting with NJDOT leadership and a concrete timetable, stating four fatalities and numerous serious non-fatal accidents on the corridor over the preceding two years.
The Township Committee adopted Ordinance No. 2026-1518, appropriating $18,060,000 for the construction of a municipal annex and authorizing $17,200,000 in bonds or notes, 5–0 with no public comment. The Mayor said the annex will house a new Police Headquarters and Emergency Management Office, partly offset by a $2.25 million federal grant.
After an executive session on litigation FH Golf Partners, LLC initiated over sewer access for a proposed development in Readington Township, the Township Committee adopted Resolution 2026-143, supporting and consenting to the proposed Upper Raritan Water Quality Management Plan amendment, 5–0.
After a public hearing at which no one spoke, the Township Committee adopted the 2026 municipal budget by Resolution No. 2026-88, 5–0, having first passed Resolutions No. 2026-86 (the budget, read by title) and 2026-87 (authorization for self-examination), each 5–0.
The Superior Court entered a Consent Order Final Compliance Certification in docket SOM-L-142-25: the HEFSP was approved, the Fourth Round obligation set at 255 prospective-need units and 0 present-need units, and the certification granted for July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2035 with retained jurisdiction. The order lists all four Fourth Round mechanisms as proposed.
What the 2022 Route 22/28 referendum asked and how voters answered, what the audit shows about the property-acquisition borrowing, the 32-acre park parcel, the renamed Parks, Recreation and Open Space Committee, the new open-space parcels and land sales, the open-space tax and trust fund, and deer management and tree planting on Township land.
What the 1980 settlement with Fox Hollow Enterprises promised, what the 2020 sewer-service MOU with FH Golf Partners requires for a 240-unit Readington proposal, how Resolution 2023-216 moved the deadlines, what the Township said in May 2025, the FH Golf Partners litigation and Resolution 2026-143 on the Upper Raritan Water Quality Management Plan amendment, and what comes next.
What the Township's July and September 2025 letters and the revised August 2025 map say about extending sewer to the Miller Avenue area, why the Township is going ahead only with the "A-Green" area, what the November 2025 sewer-rate ordinance changed, the Neshanic pump station work, and what the 2025 audit says the sewer utility takes in, spends and owes.
What Somerset County's Picket Place (County Route 567) bridge replacement is, why the county says it is replacing it, what the county page and project website say about its phases and dates, what the regional transportation program budgets for it, and which public meetings are listed.
What the Township's stormwater permit requires and what its plan records, what Ordinance 2024-1477 changed, what floodplain Ordinance No. 2026-1519 would do, and where it stands: introduced Oct. 12, 2026, with its public hearing carried to Nov. 9 for the Planning Board's review.
What Branchburg's 2026 budget appropriates and raises, how and when the Committee adopted it, how the property tax bill splits among school, county and municipal budgets, what the 2025 audit found, the debt and AAA statements, and the figures the records print differently — set side by side.
The agenda listed two site-plan applications on Route 22: a Chipotle Mexican Grill with a drive-through pick-up lane replacing a vacant bank at 204 Raritan Valley College Drive, and a 68,956-square-foot manufacturing, storage and office building on undeveloped land at 3083 Route 22 East. It also listed the Board's master plan consistency review of floodplain Ordinance No. 2026-1519. The minutes of this meeting were not yet posted as of October 31, 2026.
The agenda listed the second reading of floodplain Ordinance No. 2026-1519, noting that its public hearing would be carried to November 9, 2026 to give the Planning Board more time for its consistency review, and consent resolutions 2026-180 through 2026-184. The minutes of this meeting were not yet posted as of October 31, 2026.
The agenda listed one application: Chinmaya Ramdoot's request for a use variance to expand the religious school at 1941 Holland Brook Road West with two building additions, a second driveway and a larger parking lot. It also listed approval of the September 22 minutes. The minutes of this meeting were not yet posted as of October 31, 2026.
LocalWhy is a non-partisan publisher. It does not take sides on what the township should decide; it sets out what was decided, what each side argued, and what happens next.
The record of what Branchburg decides is spread across ordinances, resolutions, budgets, audits, notices, court filings and hours of meeting video. We read it and publish it issue by issue, with citations, so you can check every claim yourself.
What we publish
A dated, sourced timeline; written summaries of the meetings where decisions were actually taken; and the township's own documents, linked in full.
How to reach us
Email info@localwhy.org. Corrections are welcome and will be made on the record.
The decisions ahead are made in public, on the record, at evening meetings that anyone may attend and speak at. Showing up, and being accurate when you do, is most of the work.
Stay informed
Email updates when something moves: a vote taken, a filing made, a hearing noticed. No more than the news warrants, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Attend and speak up
Residents can speak during public comment at Township Committee meetings, at the public hearings on ordinances and budgets, and at land-use hearings — the notices say any interested person may appear and speak when a case is called.
When the boards meet
Township Committee
2nd and 4th Monday, 7 p.m.
Planning Board
2nd and 4th Tuesday, 7:30 p.m.
Board of Adjustment
1st Tuesday and 3rd Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.
Township Committee meetings are at 7 p.m. on the second and fourth Monday in the Municipal Building courtroom, 1077 US Highway 202 North; the Planning Board (second and fourth Tuesday) and Board of Adjustment (first Tuesday and third Wednesday) meet there at 7:30 p.m. Committee meetings are shown on BBTV (Comcast 27, Verizon 46) and archived on Granicus. Dates move, so check the township calendar before you go.
How public comment works
Most agendas carry a public-comment period for items that are not on the agenda, and a separate comment period on each ordinance or hearing item. Ask the clerk which one fits what you want to say.
Give your name and address when you reach the microphone. You are speaking on the record, and the recording is published afterwards.
Boards commonly set a time limit. Listen for the chair’s announcement when the comment period opens, and plan for it.
What makes a comment land
Name the item. “Ordinance 2026-1508” carries further than “the Evans Way plan”.
At a land-use hearing, application plans are on file with the Engineering Department during business hours, and the notice says any interested person may appear and speak when the case is called.
Bring one fact and say where it came from — a date, a figure from the budget or audit, a page of the plan.
Say what you want the board to do: adopt, amend, table the item, or ask for a specific study.
Dates move, so confirm the meeting against the township’s calendar and the agenda on its Agendas/Minutes page before you go.