Moving the town council meeting from to the municipal court to the Senior Center was a sure sign that the town council knew that the topic of rezoning part of Route 130 was a hot topic. The town council has said that it would like to change the zoning in this area, largely undeveloped, to promote business growth and increase tax ratables which would help ease the burden on residents. However residents that live near the planned zoning changes are not satisfied that the proposed changes are in their best interests, and are concerned about the negative changes it could bring. The proposed zoning changes would consolidate a variety of zones currently covering the area and allow for the development of hotels, drive-throughs, and other retail space along much of route 130. Many of the residents at the March 27th meeting expressed concern over an area near route 130 and Meadowbrook road being included in the zoning changes and the potential problems caused by an increase in traffic and vehicle noise.

Read more at http://www.nj.com/timesoftrenton/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-12/1206590718197270.xml&coll=5 and http://www.nj.com/timesoftrenton/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-12/1206677212315990.xml&coll=

It was announced at the March 19th Board of Education meeting that after being the Principal of Sharon Elementary School for the past 12 years, Mrs. Arnette Peterson would be resigning effective July 1, 2008.

A spending plan of $16.99 million was proposed for 2008 at Thursday night’s Town Council meeting. The council is seeking a 2 cent tax rate increase, from 34 to 36 cents per $100 of assessed value. The increase on a home assessed at the township average of $375,000 will be $75. The increase was attributed to the loss of $144,000 in state aid, or 7.9 percent of the 2007 total municipal aid, coupled with a $326,000 increase in pension costs. Other cost increases include health care and street lighting for the Town Center. Mayor David Fried had initially hoped for no increase to the tax rate. Various steps are being taken to trim costs where possible including laying off two fire fighters, limiting salary increases, and forcing white-collar employees to contribute to their health care.

See http://www.robbinsville-twp.org/2008-budget-message.html for more information and the March 13th presentation notes.

The Robbinsville Professional Fire Fighters Local 3786 have purchased two TerraPass carbon offsets for our front line emergency response vehicles, Engine 40 and Ambulance 140-10, in the hope of sparking community awareness about the seriousness of global warming and climate change.

Robbinsville’s career fire fighters are doing their part to reduce the adverse impact of their emergency vehicles on the planet. The fire fighters union contacted TerraPass and had each piece of emergency equipment evaluated for its carbon output/footprint. The vehicles distance driven per year, weight, and miles per gallon were evaluated, which determined their carbon footprint. With this information TerraPass then determined a fee relative to the carbon output. TerraPass then invested this fee directly into clean, renewable energy wind farms, animal farm power, and/or carbon dioxide capturing at landfills. By purchasing these carbon offsets the footprint of our two pieces of equipment have essentially been removed from the roadways.

The goal is that other emergency service departments, towns, residents, and communities consider this short term option, as well as making other long lasting changes to help stop the global crisis that affects our planet. The total cost of both offsets for our two emergency vehicles was $558.00. An offset for a standard passenger vehicle stands at about $60 to $100 dollars.

TerraPass was created by a University of Pennsylvania professor and his students, a reputable company which is third party verified. All carbon offsets purchased are invested in the year they are purchased.

For more information visit TerraPass.com. Residents can also visit IAFF3786.com for more information.

To watch IAFF 3786 “Go Green” public service announcement video, visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGQBqARXSSo

The following is the the text from the February 13, 2008 State of the Township presentation by Mayor David Fried (also available at http://www.robbinsville-twp.org/State-of-Township/index.html)

• What’s in a name?
  • Voters approve changer to Robbinsville by margin of nearly 3-to-1
  • Only one Robbinsville in New Jersey, next one is six states away
  • Branding initiative
• Getting Our Own Zip Code
  • Working with Congressman (Chris) Smith to start approval process
• 2005 Promise: Increase share of Commercial Ratables
• How Are We Doing?
  • 2006: ~21%
  • 2007: ~34%
  • 2008: ~73%
• Where Robbinsville Stands
  • Commercial share of ratable base rising, more in pipeline

  (more…)

The Robbinsville school board approved a budget for 2008-2009 of $32 million. This would increase the tax rate to $1.22 per $100 of assessed value, a five cent increase over from the previous year. The lack of state aid was cited as the main reason for the increase. Robbinsville Township is expected to receive $2.8 million in state aid making it the second lowest recipient of aid in Mercer County.

Read more at The Times (note that you may need to fill out a short form before viewing the article)

To pay your taxes online, visit:  https://www.cit-e.net/robbinsville-nj/cit-e-access/TaxBill_Std/?TID=81&TPID=8189

To pay your sewer bill online, visit: https://www.cit-e.net/robbinsville-nj/cit-e-access/Edm_UtilityBill/?TID=81&TPID=8190 

For more information, see http://www.robbinsville-twp.org/propertytax.html