Township Council — February 19, 2026

What was decided

All five members were present: Bucko, Isla, Kirsh, Ring and Council President Geiger, with Mayor Moench. Every vote below was 5-0 (ayes Bucko, Isla, Kirsh, Ring, Geiger).

Four affordable housing ordinances introduced

State law required action by March 15. The four ordinances, heard March 5 (see Fourth Round housing):

• an affordable housing ordinance and development fee ordinance under the Fair Housing Act, UHAC and N.J.A.C. 5:99 (Kirsh/Geiger);
• amending §126-309.3.1, the RMDU-26 Multi-Family Residential Zone, Block 400 Lot 7.06, 520 Route 22 East (Ring/Geiger);
• adding §126-321.9, an “AH-2 Affordable Housing Zone”, Block 711 Lot 7, 1400 Frontier Road (Kirsh/Ring);
• adding §126-321.8, an “AH-1 Affordable Housing Zone”, Block 170 Lot 4.02, 250 Route 28 (Ring/Geiger).

The Mayor said Bridgewater is not a party to other municipalities’ lawsuits challenging the law and suggested checking for any change in requirements or timelines before March 5.

Resolutions

• #26-02-19-059, Director of Finance Sarah Housman as Acting CFO (the prior CFO left for another municipality).
• Professional appointments that failed on February 5: Redevelopment Planner Michael Sullivan (Clark Caton Hintz), up to $20,000.00; the Savo Schalk fee schedules (general legal up to $460,000.00, affordable housing up to $100,000, tax appeals up to $40,000.00); Labor Counsel Matthew Giacobbe, up to $120,000.00 (Geiger said other firms she suggested did not submit RFPs); Prosecutor John Lanza, up to $80,000.00; Public Defender Scott Mitzner, up to $40,000.00; and Carlin, Ward, Ash & Heiart as special tax counsel, re-adopted after a closed session as limited to the 2025 tax year. The Council also appointed alternate prosecutors (up to $8,100.00) and an alternate public defender (up to $3,600). Geiger said more than 53 appointments had been made and 11 remained open.
• #26-02-19-069, Jordan R. Volk, P.E., P.M.P. (Colliers), sewer engineering, construction management and NJ Water Bank loan administration for the Middlebrook pumping station Phase 2, up to $327,225.00.
• #26-02-19-070, procedures for federal-aid highway projects, the first step toward a $768,000.00 grant-funded sidewalk on Garretson Road west of Country Club Road.
• #26-02-19-071, the 2026 Somerset County recycling agreement, up to $477,537.28 (16,958 households at $28.16). Bucko asked about private alternatives; Pappas said none were financially viable when checked years ago, and the Mayor said he was open to re-evaluating.
• #26-02-19-072, a Safe and Secure Communities grant of up to $45,150, with a match of up to $331,741.73, for traffic safety officer salaries.
• #26-02-19-073, Air Systems Maintenance, Inc., HVAC maintenance, up to $51,310.00 for March 2026 – February 2027.
• The EMS Advisory Committee term amendment was tabled again. The February 5 minutes were approved by voice vote.

Reports

• Sewer: the Mayor said the sewer bill has a Public Works operations portion and the SRVSA treatment invoice, that increases reflect the SRVSA invoice, and that the township aims to keep its sewer system rather than sell it to a private entity. He announced staff changes: Rob Field and Christine Madrid as Deputy Township Administrators, Dan Ahern as Director of Constituent Relations and Suzanne Maeder as Director of Public Information and IT.
• Kirsh reported meeting Senator Doug Steinhardt on the Prince Rodgers Avenue bridge over Route 287, energy costs, and Municipal Land Use Law notice for homes next to commercial properties.
• Ring: the four fire district elections fall on the third Saturday in February, 2–8 p.m., and fire-district mail ballots may not go in the municipal drop box. Bucko: ordinance changes on apartment-complex snow removal are coming. Geiger: County Parks confirmed birds tested positive for avian flu, not considered a human health hazard. Isla: the Regional Health Commission was notified of a measles outbreak at RWJ Hospital, New Brunswick.

Public comment

• David Hobbs of Monmouth Avenue invited the governing body to Hobbstown Family and Friends Day and read the 2020 Hobbstown sign (founded 1920).
• Nan Bennett Hobbs of Monmouth Avenue gave a Black History Month history of Hobbstown, including Macedonia Baptist Church (1922), the Somerville Manor Civic Association’s work in the 1960s that rerouted Route 287 away from Hobbstown, Philip and David Miller Park and Prince Rodgers Cemetery.

Records

• Minutes (township document page)
• Agenda (posted on the township site; LocalWhy has not yet reviewed it)
• Video on the township’s YouTube channel (3:05:26). This page follows the Clerk’s minutes.