Dear Community Friends,
Christmas is truly right around the corner when Santa is witnessed cruising around the community with the Mantua Township Fire Department. We’re blessed to have these public servants who take Christmas to a whole new level. Great job MTFD.
Mantua’s Deck The House, our first ever holiday decorating contest is underway. We have 32 residents participating this year. Houses must be decorated by Sunday, Dec. 17 as judging will begin on Monday, Dec. 18. Our goal is to make this fun and festive for the entire community and to get as many people involved as possible. We’ve decided to have our seniors take a bus trip to judge the participating homes. The seniors will compile a top five listing based on the contest criteria. The top five homes will be photographed and posted on our website on Wednesday, Dec. 20 where the public can vote for the first, second and third place winners. On Friday, Dec. 22, the winners will be posted on our website and on our social media platforms. Please go to our website at mantuatownship.com for updates and further information on the contest.
I always tell residents that running a municipality is very similar to running a household, just on a much larger scale. We deal with very similar cost-of living increases in government. As an example, we recently learned that the JIF (Joint Insurance Fund) preliminary assessment for 2024 will be an 11.7% increase over the 2023 assessment which equates to an almost $84,000.00 budgetary increase next year. I bring this to your attention as one example of the many challenges we face as a township committee when strategizing to keep our property taxes in check for our municipality.
On Thursday, Dec. 7, the sub-committee that was created met to continue their evaluation of our township’s zoning codes for chickens. The sub-committee which includes Committeeman John Legge, Committeewoman Eileen Lukens, Administrator Jennica Bileci, Zoning Officer Kevin Howarth and Land Use Coordinator Sandi Rost have been extensively evaluating zoning codes and pilot programs for backyard chickens used by other municipalities in our county. We anticipate a recommendation from the sub-committee for our township’s overall best interests soon after the new year.
On Wednesday morning, Dec. 13, I attended the annual Christmas Breakfast for our senior community at Incarnation Church. This event is sponsored by the township in conjunction with the Knights of Columbus. We’re thrilled to fund the breakfast each year, and are grateful that the Knight’s volunteer to prepare and serve our senior friends. The township committee and I always make our seniors a priority. We wish them a healthy and happy holiday season.
During the month of November, the Mantua Township Police Department handled 2,852 calls for service. The department made 80 arrests, wrote 176 motor vehicle summonses, handled 142 investigation reports, and investigated 44 motor vehicle crashes.
I’m appalled by the amount of shoplifting that continues to occur at our big box stores throughout the community. As you can see, virtually all of these alleged criminals are from out-of-town and the vast majority were arrested during the commission of the crime. We will not tolerate this illegal behavior in our community and will continue to provide our police department with the necessary resources to keep our community and residents safe. As you can see, our police department is tactically astute and makes arrests. A word to the wise – stay out of our township, as you will in-fact be arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Great job MTPD.
- 11/02 Home Depot – $200.00 worth of saw blades – thieves from Woodbury and Paulsboro arrested.
- 11/02 Kohl’s – unknown merchandise – thieves from Gloucester and Mantua arrested.
- 11/05 Kohl’s – $1,889.92 in merchandise – thief from Philadelphia arrested.
- 11/11 Kohl’s – $830.00 in merchandise – thief from Gloucester arrested.
- 11/16 Target – large amounts of makeup – thieves from New York and Delaware arrested.
- 11/19 Kohl’s – $1,008.00 in merchandise – thief from Mays Landing arrested.
- 11/20 Home Depot – $160.01 in dimmer switches – thief from Paulsboro arrested.
- 11/20 Target – $513.22 in merchandise – thief from Mays Landing arrested.
- 11/20 Kohl’s – $866.99 in merchandise – thieves from Philadelphia arrested.
- 11/23 Target – $1,589.00 in merchandise – thieves from Washington Township and Tennessee arrested.
- 11/24 Target – $275.75 in merchandise – thief from Pine Hill arrested.
- 11/24 Home Depot – unknown merchandise – thief from Philadelphia arrested.
- 11/25 Home Depot – $179.00 in power tools – thief from Paulsboro arrested.
- 11/26 Kohl’s – $3,000.00 in clothing – thieves got away.
- Home Depot – $77.97 ladder – thieves got away.
- 11/29 Home Depot – $298.00 drills – thieves from Benton, PA and Gloucester arrested.
- 11/30 Kohl’s – $700.00worth of makeup and perfume – thieves from Trenton arrested.
Lock your homes and vehicles at all times, don’t leave deliveries on your front porch and be cautious of outgoing mail as thieves will steal from your mailboxes.
Upcoming Township Meetings and Events:
- Our township committee meeting, and our last meeting for this year is scheduled for Monday, Dec. 18 at 4:00 p.m.
- Tuesday, Dec. 19 at 5 p.m. is the next Municipal Utilities Authority Meeting at the Municipal Building.
- Tuesday, Dec. 19 at 7 p.m. is the next Land Use Board Meeting at the Municipal Building.
- Thursday, Dec. 21 at 7 p.m. is the next Fire District Meeting at the Sewell Fire Station.
- Our township committee reorganization meeting is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024 at 5:00 pm.
On behalf of Deputy Mayor Pete Scirrotto, myself, and the entire township committee – we look forward to continuing our service with honesty, integrity and trustful leadership.
Respectfully,
Mayor Robert T. Zimmerman, MAS
