Mayor Louis Manzo looks to the future in this week’s Mayor’s Message
Happy 2018! With the holidays behind us, I’m hoping your new year has gotten off to a nice start. Your township committee kicked the year off with its annual reorganization meeting on Jan. 2 and I was honored to be sworn in as your mayor once again. Congratulations to my fellow-committee person Don Heim, who was sworn in as your deputy mayor. And on behalf of Heim and sitting committeemen Vince Gangemi Sr. and Jeff Jacques, I welcome newly elected Committeewoman Julie DeLaurentis to the crew. DeLaurentis has been very active in our community for the last 15 years with various organizations, including a dedicated volunteer role on our township Recreation Commission. She now steps up to play an important role on our governing body and we are all enthused to have her input on the decisions we make for our community. DeLaurentis was also sworn in on Jan. 2 to a three-year term on township committee.
This is an exciting and important time for Harrison Township, as I stated in my remarks at the reorganization meeting. These next three to five years will define what our town looks like for the next 50 years and we are prepared to address all that’s ahead of us. We have weathered the storm of the recession over the last 10 years and the economy is on a steady upswing now. With that comes more serious interest from both residential and commercial developers seeking to be part of our wonderful community. In hindsight, the economic slowdown served us well on that front since we took planning and zoning steps to ensure the smart, desirable and appropriate buildout of Harrison Township. Like many of you, I’d prefer that things remain just as they are right now. But, none of us can control a landowner from selling their property for development.
So, it falls to the governing body, through our Joint Land Use Board, to ensure that any development transpires in the most advantageous manner possible for the community as a whole. To achieve this, we have created a model in Harrison based on smart growth principals with high aesthetic standards that include a connectivity component and the retention of open space. We have leveraged the planning tools of redevelopment and PILOT programs to ensure any commercial development meets that standard and provides the maximum fiscal benefit to the town. We continue to seek input from our residents to gauge our progress and direction. Feel free to let us know your thoughts…my cell phone and email address can be found on the township website, www.harrisontwp.us.
2018 will be a great year for our hometown and I wish you and your family the same blessings.
