Township Committee — January 5, 2026

The Township Committee’s minutes of this reorganization meeting, approved at its January 26, 2026 meeting, are on the Township’s Documents-On-Demand portal, linked from its Agendas/Minutes page, in the Township Committee and Board of Health minutes folder. Outgoing Mayor Thomas Young called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Based on the results of the November 4, 2025 election, Mr. Thomas Young and Mr. David Owens were sworn in as Township Committee members for three-year terms to December 31, 2028. All five members were then present: Mr. James Schworn, Mrs. Anna Columbus, Mr. Owens, Mr. Brendon Beatrice and Mr. Young. Also present were Township Administrator Gregory Bonin, Township Clerk Maggie Schmitt, Director of Finance Diane Schubach, Chief Financial Officer Mindy D’Amico and Township Attorney William Willard. The minutes record about 30 members of the public. No one spoke during public comment.

Mayor and Deputy Mayor

On motion of Mr. Young, seconded by Mrs. Columbus, Mr. James Schworn was selected as Mayor and sworn in for a one-year term to December 31, 2026. Recorded vote: 5–0 (Aye: Schworn, Columbus, Owens, Beatrice, Young). On motion of Mr. Owens, seconded by Mrs. Columbus, Mr. Brendon Beatrice was selected as Deputy Mayor for the same term. Recorded vote: 5–0. Sitting as the Board of Health, the Committee chose Mr. Schworn as Chair and Mr. Beatrice as Deputy Chair, each 5–0, and adopted Resolutions No. BH-2026-01 through BH-2026-03 (consent agenda, meeting schedule, advertisements and legal notices).

The outgoing and incoming Mayors’ remarks

In closing remarks, Mr. Young said the reorganization sets the Township’s path by naming people to its boards and commissions, that “our focus is on the year 2030 and maintaining our long-standing ethos of stewardship,” and that “stewardship during times of change is challenging.” He thanked voters for another term.

In his remarks, printed in the minutes, Mayor Schworn said:

• “Over a very short period, Branchburg has experienced an extraordinary amount of change. Much of this change has come from development that was forced upon us,” driven in particular “by unrealistic and irrational state mandates and legal settlements.”
• “Through our settlement, we limited development to fewer than 2,500 homes, when our obligation could have far exceeded 5,000,” and the Township must evaluate the impact of what has been and is being built — on schools, police, fire and emergency medical services, roads, infrastructure, water and sewer, and “our ability to provide the necessary financial support” — before considering more.
• “I will not support further development until we have a complete and transparent understanding of how current growth is affecting our community and what it means for our future,” and “I will not support—and I will actively advocate against—any new development unless it is expressly required by law or explicitly permitted by zoning.”
• On Route 28: “we purchased two properties on Route 28: we are in the process of converting the Advance property into open space,” with the goal of keeping it “untouched in its natural state.” He said he had asked the administration to evaluate whether the Township can retain the Pizzo property longer and the fiscal impact of doing so: “There have been reports about developing that site with townhomes. That was never the goal, and I will not support any such development.” He said the original intent was to develop the Route 28 corridor to complement the college’s growth and “create a small, college-oriented downtown area,” that the college “is not moving forward as quickly as anticipated,” and that until its long-term plans are clear it is best “to do nothing with the Pizzo property rather than to rush and do the wrong thing with the property.”

Mayor Schworn presented Mr. Young with a commemorative clock for his service as Mayor in the prior year.

Reorganization resolutions and appointments

Resolutions No. 2026-01 through 2026-28 were adopted on motion of Mrs. Columbus, seconded by Mr. Beatrice. Recorded vote: 5–0 (Aye: Young, Columbus, Owens, Beatrice, Schworn). They cover the 2026 meeting schedule, rules of order, legal notices and depositories; interest and penalties on delinquent taxes and the annual tax sale; the cafeteria plan; the 2026 temporary budget (2026-13); authority for the Township Engineer to sign developers’ NJDOT and NJDEP applications and for the Mayor and Clerk to sign developer’s agreements; and these appointments: Township/Board of Health Attorney William J. Willard, tax appeal counsel Martin Allen and labor counsel Richard Flaum, all of DiFrancesco, Bateman, Kunzman, Davis, Lehrer & Flaum; bond counsel McManimon, Scotland & Baumann; auditor Suplee, Clooney & Company; tax-appeal appraiser Sterling DiSanto & Associates; risk manager Lafontaine & Budd, Inc.; surveyors Hals Engineering Company (Schwanewede Hals & Vince); sanitary sewer engineering Mott MacDonald; environmental services Hillman Consulting LLC; and municipal court officials.

The Committee’s appointments “A” through “R” were confirmed on motion of Mr. Owens, seconded by Mr. Beatrice, 5–0. Among them: Mr. Young and Mr. Owens to the Board of Health (to 2028); Mr. Owens as the Planning Board’s Class III member; Michael Pappas to the Somerset Raritan Valley Sewerage Authority for five years, to December 31, 2030; Douglas Chabrak, Lawrence Fox and Douglas Pollock to the Wildlife Management Committee; Suzanne Daniels and Ray Sanderson to the Historic Preservation Commission, with Patricia Rees as Alternate No. 2; Darby Ahrens, Elizabeth LeVaca and Sofie Cirinelli to the Communications Committee; and a Parks and Open Space Committee of Mr. Bonin, Recreation Director John Voli, Mr. Beatrice, the Mayor or designee, Douglas Pollock for the Environmental Commission, the Planning Board chair (to be determined) and residents Gretchen Keller, Brian Lauducci, Greg Linde and Len Weinman.

The Mayor’s appointments “A” through “E” were confirmed on motion of Mr. Owens, seconded by Mrs. Columbus, 5–0: Richard Albanese and Kasia Walch to the Board of Adjustment (to 2029), with Kenneth Iselin as Alternate No. 2 and Vicki Cook as Alternate No. 3; Douglas Chabrak and Erik Rano to the Environmental Commission; Mrs. Columbus (Class I), Vicki Cook (Class II) and Douglas Chabrak, Larry Hambro, Thomas McCartney and Alan Verbeke (Class IV) to the Planning Board; Edward Edgar as Emergency Management Coordinator and James Norgalis as Deputy Coordinator; and the members’ liaison assignments. Ms. Schmitt swore in the appointees present.

Other business

In member comments, Mrs. Columbus thanked Mr. Young for his leadership. Mr. Young said the public portion of Committee meetings would move to 7:00 p.m., with an executive session to follow if needed. Mr. Owens said he and Mr. Young had attended a ribbon cutting that day for Celltrion, which is taking over the space formerly occupied by Eli Lilly, its first U.S. facility, and that the company intends “to make a very large investment in the town”; he said he firmly supports the Mayor’s message and hopes “to keep Branchburg as Branchburg”; and he said two officers became ill at the scene of a serious accident on Route 202 on New Year’s Eve and went to the hospital. Mr. Beatrice said he was “in total support” of the Mayor’s speech. Mayor Schworn said the Committee would like the community to have a voice in its decisions and that “we need the full support of the residents to push hard against all the forced development.” The meeting adjourned at 7:30 p.m.

See Branchburg’s Fourth Round affordable-housing plan, open space and Township land stewardship, the 2026 budget and your tax bill and Route 202 safety.

Records

• Minutes and agenda: Agendas/Minutes page of the Township’s website, which links its Documents-On-Demand portal (Township Committee and Board of Health folder)
• Meeting video on the Township’s Granicus archive