Dear Community Friends,
Tuesday, June 4 was Tourette Syndrome Awareness Day in New Jersey. I met with the Baldwin Family of Mantua Township to present them with an annual township proclamation on behalf of our township committee.
Scott and Carolyn Baldwin have been personal friends and Mantua residents for over 30 years. We raised our families together in the same neighborhood. TS has directly impacted Baldwin’s three children Anna, Sarah and Eric who were all diagnosed early in life.
The township committee and I have proudly supported their quest to educate the community about Tourette Syndrome, an inherited genetic condition of the nervous system characterized by involuntary physical and vocal tics.
Anna, a spokesperson for the New Jersey Center for Tourette Syndrome (NJCTS) has seemingly moved to the forefront of their efforts and is continuing the great work. I couldn’t be more proud of her as a teacher and advocate for TS awareness.
The ultimate goal of NJCTS is to find better treatments and eventually a cure for this disorder. We thank Anna and the Baldwin’s for paving the way for many years in our community and beyond.
Paleontologist Dr. Kenneth Lacovara, who’s the founder and executive director of the Edelman Fossil Park and Museum at Rowan University, provided the township committee with an on-site tour of the progress for this world class facility.
Deputy Mayor Pete Scirrotto, Committeeman John Legge, Committeewoman Eileen Lukens and I were on-hand earlier this week to learn more about the project in anticipation for its potential opening later this year in Mantua Township.
Stay tuned for updates as information becomes available at the fossil park’s website.
On Wednesday, June 5, the Mantua Township School District held its Big Night Out at our beautiful Chestnut Branch Park.
Mantua families enjoyed another awesome event hosted by the BOE that included inflatable rides, food trucks, face painting, a dunk tank and much more. Great work by Superintendent Christine Trampe and everyone involved from the school district.
I was there to support the event on behalf of the township committee, and township recreation members Deb Baldasarre, Rich Gerber and Renee Nuss participated by providing some free give-aways. We want to thank our Park Director, Scott Hellerman and his staff for having the park in pristine condition, and our beloved MTPD for keeping everyone safe.
We recently received a clean communities grant for this year in the amount of $42,363.44. This money helps to off-set our budget and saves taxpayer dollars.
We’d like to congratulate Josh Cummings for recently graduating from the G.C. Police Academy’s Special Law Enforcement Officer I (SLEO I) training academy. You may know Josh as he has been working for the township as part of our digital media team. He recently graduated from Rowan University and has aspirations of pursuing a law enforcement career. In the meantime, you’ll see him around the community working in a dual capacity in digital media and as a SLEO I.
Throughout the month of May, the MTPD handled 2,984 calls for service, made 75 arrests, issued 192 tickets, handled 232 investigation reports and investigated 37 motor vehicle crashes. All cases have been cleared by arrest with the exception of five that are currently still under investigation.
The MTPD reported that there has been an unusual amount of identity theft throughout the township. The Sewell Post Office has been compromised by stolen mail resulting in identity thefts and bank accounts being compromised. The MTPD is working with the U.S. Postal Inspectors and the G.C. Prosecutor’s Office to address this threat. Please be cautious of placing any mail with personal or banking information inside your curbside mailboxes, or at the outside post office drop boxes (especially at the Sewell Post Office location) to alleviate any potential of having your mail stolen and identity compromised, etc.
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
