Hopewell Township Mayor Courtney Peters-Manning began Monday’s Township Committee meeting by expressing gratitude to the more than 250 fire fighters from six counties who responded to last week’s fire near Poor Farm and Woosamonsa Roads. She thanked the Hopewell Valley Emergency Services responders and volunteer fire companies from Pennington, Hopewell, and Union as well as the New Jersey Forest Fire Service for their extraordinary efforts in fighting the almost 300-acre fire, which is now fully contained. “It was remarkable they were able to save every single structure,” Peters-Manning said. Read a thank you letter from Pennington Fire Chief Roger Demareski here.
In a related discussion, Director of Public Works, George Snyder notified the Committee that the NJ Forest Fire Service is planning to conduct a controlled burn along a portion of Hopewell-Wertsville Road on March 10, conditions permitting, as part of its overall fire-risk management efforts. The burn will occur on the Betty Wold Johnson Hillside Farm Preserve owned by the D&R Greenway Land Trust. Updates will appear on social media and the Township website.
In other business, the Township Committee passed a resolution celebrating March as Women’s History Month. “I’m proud to celebrate the contribution of women throughout history, especially right here in the Hopewell Valley, where we have a strong history of women leaders on the Township Committee,” said Peters-Manning.
The Committee also issued a proclamation declaring March 9-15 as national ground water awareness week in Hopewell Township. Over 85% of Hopewell residents rely on groundwater for drinking. The Township website contains valuable information for testing private wells.
Water was also the topic of a request by Mike Pisauro, Policy Director of The Watershed Institute, asking the Township to join other municipalities in the Stony Brook watershed including Pennington Borough, Lawrence, and Princeton in funding a joint watershed improvement plan as part of the state requirements for the Municipal Separate Storm System (MS4) permit. Required by the NJ Department of Environment Protection for each municipality across New Jersey, the purpose of the plan is to better understand stormwater runoff and the extent of associated pollution and to develop mitigation measures to reduce pollution and decrease flooding.
For several years, Hopewell Township officials have been involved in discussions with the other municipalities on stormwater planning for the watershed. Pisauro urged the Committee to join the others in committing funding for plan development as quickly as possible to meet the NJDEP deadline of Dec. 2027 for the plan. Peters-Manning said the request would be on the agenda for the Committee’s next meeting on March 17.
The Township Committee will also hold a special budget meeting on March 20 at 5:30.
