Township Committee — September 28, 2026
The Committee adopted Ordinance No. 2026-1518, a bond ordinance appropriating $18,060,000 for 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. Four consent resolutions and the bills list also passed 5–0.
- Government
- Taxes
Meeting recording
Recording plays on the township archive
This meeting does not play on this page. The township's recording is complete and plays in full on the township's own channel.
What happened
The Township Committee’s minutes of this regular meeting, approved at its October 12 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. Mayor James Schworn called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. All five members were present: Mayor Schworn, Mr. Brendon Beatrice, Mr. Thomas Young, Mrs. Anna Columbus and Mr. David Owens. The minutes record five members of the public. There were no public comments, either on agenda items or in the general comment period.
The annex bond ordinance
The Committee held the second reading and public hearing of Ordinance No. 2026-1518, “Bond Ordinance providing for the construction of a municipal annex … appropriating $18,060,000 therefor and authorizing the issuance of $17,200,000 bonds or notes of the Township to finance part of the cost thereof.” The ordinance, read into the minutes, appropriates $18,060,000, including an $860,000 down payment from previously adopted budgets, and authorizes $17,200,000 in bonds or bond anticipation notes. It sets the project’s period of usefulness at 30 years, includes up to $800,000 for “items of expense listed in and permitted under N.J.S.A. 40A:2-20,” and says any grant money received will go to the cost or to paying down the debt, reducing the borrowing authorized but not issued.
In the minutes’ account of the discussion:
- Mayor Schworn said the ordinance is the first step toward a new municipal annex building that will house a new Police Headquarters and Emergency Management Office, and that a $2.25 million federal grant will partly offset the cost.
- Mr. Young said the grant will let the Township use debt-service roll-off to cover part of the cost. The Mayor said some existing Township bonds mature and will be retired in the current budget cycle, so the Township can absorb part of the new debt “without incurring a tax increase.”
- Mr. Owens said there will be more discussion of the Municipal Complex. The Mayor said the goal is a larger Municipal Complex, with the current Police Headquarters repurposed, and that the Township is still in discussions with the Branchburg Board of Education to acquire Old York School, which would reduce the borrowing for the overall project.
- Administrator Gregory Bonin said that, based on the architect’s information, construction should take about two to three years from authorization to proceed.
No one spoke at the public hearing. The ordinance was adopted on motion of Mr. Owens, seconded by Mr. Young. Recorded vote: 5–0 (Aye: Young, Columbus, Owens, Beatrice, Schworn).
Separately, the six-year capital program in the Township’s 2026 adopted budget lists “Municipal Complex Improvements” at $20,000,000.
Other business
Resolutions No. 2026-168 through 2026-171 passed 5–0 on motion of Mrs. Columbus, seconded by Mr. Young: accepting inspection fees from Branchburg 202 LLC (2026-168), a grade increase for a Public Works employee (2026-169), a tax refund (2026-170) and a recreation refund (2026-171). The claims for payment also passed 5–0.
The minutes of the September 14 executive and regular sessions were approved. The Mayor read a proclamation recognizing October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month (Dance for the Cure, Tie the Town Pink). In the Administrator’s report, Mr. Bonin said signs have been ordered for the Township’s two new open space parcels, on Station Road and South Branch Road, and that a dedication ceremony is being planned with no date yet; he also said the past weekend’s storm caused a few short power outages, mainly in Neshanic Station, and no major problems. In liaison reports, Mrs. Columbus and the Mayor spoke about the weather cancellation of the Harvest and Hops Festival, and Mr. Beatrice announced the Trick or Treat Trail on October 25 at White Oak Park.
The Committee went into executive session at 7:18 p.m. (Resolution No. 2026-172), returned at 7:26 p.m. and adjourned.
See municipal annex, public safety and open space and land stewardship.
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