Author: Web Site Administrator
ELIZABETH, NJ – The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders is pleased to present an exhibit of photographs by Agnieszka Solawa of Summit in the gallery space at the Union County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs, located in the historic St. John’s Parsonage at 633 Pearl Street in Elizabeth. A selection of her work entitled “Inspired” is on display at the Pearl Street Gallery through March 27. The public is invited to enjoy the exhibit during regular gallery hours, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays.
“The talent and diversity of our county artists assure an inspiring variety of exhibits at the Pearl Street Gallery,” said Freeholder Bette Jane Kowalski, liaison to the Union County Cultural and Heritage Advisory Board. “We are pleased to display Ms. Solawa’s beautiful photographs.”
Agnieszka Solawa was born in Krakow, Poland, where she grew up surrounded by art. Her mother was an artist and her father was chief architect of the city of Krakow and a professor at the School of Architecture. Agnieszka’s family immigrated to South Africa to escape from communism. She earned a Diploma of Fine Art from the Pretoria and Cape Town Universities and a BA in Architecture from the University of Cape Town. In Paris, France, she studied Graphic Arts at the “Atelier 17.” She later won a scholarship to study art and Italian language at the University of Urbino in Italy.
In 1987, Agnieszka Solawa moved to Summit, New Jersey with her husband Sam, who also is an architect and photographer. Throughout her career, Agnieszka participated in many exhibitions in Italy, France, South Africa and the United States. Her paintings and photographs are in many private collections. Her recent exhibits include: Solo Exhibition of Photography, Millburn Public Library; Solo Exhibition of Paintings, Westfield Memorial Library; Solo Exhibition of Jewelry, New Providence Memorial Library; “Holy Lives”, Juried Show, Therese A. Maloney Art Gallery, Morristown, NJ; and “Seasons”, 3rd Annual Photography Contest, The Donald B. Palmer Museum, Springfield, NJ.
Agnieszka continued her photography and painting while working as an architect/interior designer at Donghia Associates and later as an architect at the Port Authority of NY & NJ. She also is a jewelry designer and a singer. To see her work, visit her website www.solawa.com .
Union County artists (whose works can be hung on a wall) interested in exhibiting in the gallery space are welcome to apply. For more information about the Pearl Street Gallery or other programs, please contact the Union County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs, 633 Pearl Street, Elizabeth NJ 07202. Free on-site parking is available. Telephone 908-558-2550. NJ Relay users can dial 711. Send E-mail to: culturalinfo@ucnj.org.
County Surrogate James S. LaCorte, Sheriff Joseph Cryan, Freeholders Christopher Hudak, Angel G. Estrada and Vernell Wright Begin New Terms
UNION COUNTY COURTHOUSE, ELIZABETH—Freeholder Chairman Mohamed S. Jalloh today announced a comprehensive series of initiatives for 2015, entitled “Investing in Union County” that includes new announcements in economic development, arts, education, quality of life improvements and public safety.
Jalloh, a resident of Union, was selected as Chairman of the Union County Freeholder Board at the 158th annual reorganization meeting held in the Union County Courthouse in Elizabeth. He began serving as Freeholder in 2010. This is his first term as Chairman of the Freeholder Board.
County Surrogate James S. LaCorte and Freeholders Christopher Hudak (last year’s Chairman), Angel G. Estrada and Vernell Wright were sworn in to new terms. Sheriff Joseph Cryan was sworn into his first full term. Freeholder Bruce H. Bergen was appointed as Freeholder Vice Chairman. Freeholders also voted to fill numerous positions on County advisory boards and to adopt the Board’s 2015 schedule and procedural rules.
In reflecting upon a number of tough governmental decisions made by the Freeholder Board over the past several years necessitated by the global recession, Jalloh noted the County is rebounding and must continue to “play offense” through a series of strategic initiatives for the New Year.
“Those steps proved very effective and we have emerged a stronger County government because of it,” Jalloh said. “It is time again for the County to focus on making the investments in our future that will help boost the economy and enhance the quality of life for our residents.”
Jalloh went on to outline his “Investing in Union County” initiatives:
- “Road map to success” – The County will commission a report, conducted through the Bloustein School at Rutgers, that will examine trends in Union County’s overall economy, find strengths and synergies to focus its resources upon, and effectuate positive outcomes.
- “Build a Community of The Arts” – this set of initiatives would build a County-wide arts ecosystem that will grow and stimulate Union County’s economy, including:
- An Arts Master plan, with assistance from former Rahway Mayor Jim Kennedy, which would catalogue the County’s Arts resources and determine how to best utilize them, market them and move forward with a plan for advancing the arts;
- The Union County Advancing Community Theatre initiative (UCACT), through which the County would sponsor and promote five or more theatre events at the Union County Performing Arts Center (UCPAC). This program builds on the recent success of RENT – a pilot of this program that the County initiated in November through a partnership with UCPAC;
- A new partnership with Union County College to offer classes in acting, dance, and public speaking at UCPAC that will be open to all residents;
- A “creative placemaking initiative,” which will involve covering traffic control boxes with the artistic expressions of local Artists, aimed at enhancing community arts and revitalization.
- “College Readiness Now” – Develop a partnership with Union County College to expand this pilot program which tests juniors near the end of the academic year to ensure they are prepared for college and help avoid costly remediation courses.
- “Families First initiative” – which includes a partnership involving the United Way of Greater Union County, the Workforce Investment Board, and our Department of Human Services, that would lead to additional after school programs, workforce investment training and support for families;
- A pilot program with Community Coordinated Child Care (also known as “four C’s”) to serve those who don’t meet eligibility for State subsidized child care;
- Work with various partners including the Court Administration, the Sheriff’s office, Human Service agencies and the Prosecutors Office, to ensure safety and better services for families affected by domestic violence.
- A series of economic development and workforce initiatives meant to boost the economy and create new opportunities, including:
- A $2.3 million expansion of the Union County Workforce Investment Board (WIB) program at the Jersey Gardens Mall in Elizabeth to boost job training, job creation and employment programs for County residents;
- The Entrepreneurship Training Program, which just began through the WIB, is aimed at assisting individuals who want to start and manage their own business; and a partnership with the New Jersey State AFL-CIO (community services agency) to screen and assist qualified, legal, permanent residents who live in Union County with their naturalization;
- The creation of a Union County economic development response team to approach each Union County municipality about their needs. This would open a dialogue on sharing services, identifying opportunities and maximizing our resources in spurring economic growth;
- Public safety and recreational announcements aimed at improving the quality of life, including:
- The creation of a new street crimes unit through the Sheriff’s Department that would focus on emerging public safety concerns;
- Action on a recently completed assessment of our parks, public works and motor vehicle locations to install safety cameras as a deterrent to crime in those locations;
- Continuing the successful Union County Gun Buyback program with another round coming later this summer;
- Enhanced development of our parks, such as continuing the “turf and build” program and bike path improvements, as well as roads and infrastructure measures with the goal of increasing recreational opportunities in the County;
Finally, in discussing last year’s developments in Ferguson, Missouri, and Staten Island, Jalloh added that it is “is incumbent upon all of us as government leaders to assist in the effort to maintain or restore the bond of trust between our different communities and our police departments.”
Jalloh has initiated conversations with Assemblyman Green, the Prosecutors office, the Sheriff’s office, and the County’s Public Safety Director regarding programs that could be offered at our Police Academy and through County Police.
“We want to raise the bar of tolerance and professionalism for those in the line of duty, and in turn we hope to create an atmosphere of renewed respect that our officers deserve to making the ultimate sacrifice of putting their own lives on the line,” Jalloh stated.
The Freeholder Chairman closed his speech by quoting President Obama:
Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.
“I look forward to working with my colleagues, County staff and members of the community to effect this change,” Jalloh said.
(All photos: James Lowney/County of Union)
Union County Freeholder Chairman-elect Mohamed S. Jalloh will announce his initiatives for the New Year during County Government’s Reorganization at the County Courthouse on Sunday, Jan. 4th. The event begins at 12 p.m.
Those scheduled to be sworn into new terms include: County Surrogate James La Corte, Sheriff Joseph Cryan, Immediate Past Freeholder Chairman Christopher Hudak, and Freeholders Angel G. Estrada and Vernell Wright. Bruce Bergen is expected to be appointed as Freeholder Vice Chairman.
Freeholders will also vote to fill numerous positions on county advisory boards and to adopt the board’s 2015 schedule and more.
- Time: Sunday, January 4th, 12 P.M.
- Place: Union County Courthouse, 2 Broad Street Judge Cassidy’s Chambers Elizabeth, NJ
The Union County Department of Parks and Recreation has released details of its annual Deer Management Program, which will begin on Monday morning, January 5 in four County parks and one municipal park. The program will operate in the Watchung Reservation, the Summit portion of Passaic River Park, Ash Brook Reservation, Lenape Park and the Hawk Rise Sanctuary.
Browsing for food by large numbers of deer has caused a loss of forest understory in park areas throughout the northeastern United States. The overpopulation of deer threatens the survival of the plant and animal communities that are important to the ecology of these parks.
Forest ecologists recommend a density of 20 per square mile in a healthy hardwood forest and as low as 5 per square mile in a forest that has been heavily damaged by browsing. Spotlight counts conducted by the County in April, 2014 suggested 2014-2015 overwintering densities of about 45 deer per square mile in the Watchung Reservation, 53 per mile in and around Ash Brook Reservation, and over 200 per square mile in and around Lenape and Nomahegan Parks.
An analysis completed by the County in 2011 showed that roads bordering Lenape and Nomahegan Parks had some of the highest numbers of deer-car collisions in the County. And in Hawk Rise Sanctuary in Linden, overbrowsing by deer is threatening the survival of hundreds of native plants introduced with the recent construction of a boardwalk.
Since 1995, marksmen in the County of Union’s state-regulated deer management program have reduced the population of white-tailed deer in the Watchung Reservation substantially. In 2005, hunting was initiated in Ash Brook Reservation and in 2006 in portions of Passaic River Park in Summit. Three years ago, hunters harvested deer from Lenape Park for the first time. And last year, the County began to administer deer management in Linden’s Hawk Rise Sanctuary as a shared service.
The Watchung Reservation spans over 2,000 acres in Springfield, Mountainside, Scotch Plains, Summit, Berkeley Heights and Watchung. Passaic River Park spans 287 acres in Berkeley Heights, New Providence and Summit. Lenape Park covers 403 acres of land in Cranford, Kenilworth, Union, Springfield and Westfield. The Ash Brook Reservation encompasses 667 acres in Scotch Plains and Clark. And the Hawk Rise Sanctuary includes about 45 acres of forest in the City of Linden.
The Union County Deer Management Program will operate on Mondays from January 5 to February 9. Because of the Dr. Martin Luther King holiday, hunting will occur on Wednesday, January 21 instead of Monday, January 19. In the event of inclement weather on any other Monday, the hunting activity will be moved to Wednesday that week. If Wednesday brings inclement weather, the hunting will be moved to Friday. Hunters will be in the parks from 5:00 a.m. until after dark, but shooting may occur only during daylight hours.
Thirty-six marksmen have been chosen by the County from among experienced, licensed hunters. Seventy percent of the hunters have previously participated in Union County’s program, and all are serving on a voluntary basis. The hunters will be wearing orange hats or vests and will hunt the deer from elevated positions, at least 20 feet up in the trees, over baited sites.
The hunters may keep any deer carcasses that they harvest. Many of the deer will be processed at a State-approved butcher and the venison will be donated to the needy and homeless through the Community FoodBank of New Jersey.
The deer management program will be supervised by the Union County Police and the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife. Anyone found hunting on any County park property outside the terms of this program will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Citizens observing any such illegal activity are urged to immediately contact the Union County Police at 908-654-9800.
The public should note that these parks will not be closed during the deer management program; however, portions of some roadways inside the park may be closed for short periods if necessary. Park patrons are urged to stay on the marked hiking, walking and bridle trails. Patrons also are urged to keep pets restrained on a leash.
For further information, go to the County’s website or contact the Union County Department of Parks and Recreation at (908) 789-3682. Hunters interested in joining this program in a future year can get onto a mailing list for applications through the website.
The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders joined elected officials and community leaders from the Borough of Garwood on Sunday, December 14 at a ribbon cutting ceremony to mark the official opening of the Borough’s new Sports and Recreation Complex.
Freeholder Chairman Christopher Hudak congratulated the entire Garwood community for their commitment toward creating the state-of-the-art sports and recreation complex. “It’s another reason why Union County is a great place to live and raise a family,” said Hudak.
Through the Kids Recreation Trust Fund, to date the Freeholder Board has awarded $604,700 dollars in matching grant funding to support the 3.2 million dollar sports and recreation complex.
The new complex has a baseball field, a new turf multi-purpose playing field, basketball court, playground, a bocci ball court, a walking path around the perimeter of the complex as well as other amenities.
“The Freeholder Board is proud to support this recreation project and the many others in all of our 21 municipalities,” said Freeholder Bergen, chairman the Union County Open Space, Recreation, and Historic Preservation Trust Fund. “Since 2004, the Kids Recreation Trust Fund matching grant program has helped rebuild, refurbish, expand, or build more than 100 parks and other recreational facilities throughout Union County.”
The Kids Recreation matching grant program, administered through the Union County Open Space, Recreation and Historic Preservation Trust Fund, was established to help local governments offset the cost of upgrading and building recreational facilities in their municipality.
Union County Freeholder Chairman Christopher Hudak (right) and (from left) Freeholders Bruce Bergen and Linda Carter present resolutions to Advanced Practice Nurse Beryl Sowah of JFK Medical Center’s Plainfield Health Connection program and program graduates Viola Woods and Angel Torres, and social worker Wilselin Geronimo commending JFK Medical Center and the staff involved in making Plainfield Health Connection such a great success.
The program’s mission is to improve the health of the uninsured and underinsured residents in the greater Plainfield community and reduce healthcare costs through innovative community healthcare with a goal of reducing avoidable utilization of high-cost hospital and emergency department services.
(Photo by Jim Lowney/County of Union)
County receives $26 million payment; saves $52 million over next five years and guarantees continued operation of facility
UNION COUNTY, NJ—The County of Union today finalized the sale of Runnells Specialized Hospital to the Center Management Group of Flushing, NY, in a $26 million cash transaction that would also save as much as $52 million over the next five years, and generate an estimated $500,000 in new property taxes for Berkeley Heights. As part of the transaction, the County leased back the hospital’s 44-bed Cornerstone Psychiatric Unit from an affiliate of Center Management for a period up to ten years.
The sale of Runnells Specialized Hospital marks the first ownership change in the 102-year history of the hospital. The Hospital remains open and will remain open under new ownership. Of the 391 employees impacted by the move, approximately 209 have either been rehired, kept their jobs or been transferred to other positions within the County; and 63 have retired. Center Management is expected to continue to rehire more out of this employee pool in the days ahead.
The County had mandated a number of conditions be met for the completion of sale, requiring that Center Management:
- pay not less than the appraised value of $26 million to the County;
- give current Hospital patients the right to remain at the Hospital;
- protect the Hospital employees, in good standing, by offering the right of first refusal and providing as many employment opportunities as possible at the Hospital and at Center Management Group’s other locations;
- guarantee a five-year capital improvement plan;
- commit to sharing revenue with the County for any new health care related services or facilities Center Management Group adds to the Hospital;
- agree to a deed restriction that will require the Hospital remain a health care facility for long-term patients;
- and agree that a certain percentage of beds at the Hospital shall remain available for Union County residents and to indigent patients.
Hudak noted that the Freeholder Board had set a goal at the beginning of this year to complete the transaction before the end of December.
“This was a comprehensive effort that analyzed every facet of the hospital and every scenario for its continued operations,” said Freeholder Chairman Christopher Hudak, adding the decision “of this magnitude” was “not an easy one and required well over two years of work.”
“The bottom line is that we’ve made the best decision possible toward maintaining the financial viability of the hospital, keeping it open and guaranteeing the continuum of quality care for its patients,” Hudak said.
Since 2006, New Jersey’s Medicaid Program and the Federal government have been underfunding long-term care facilities, and Medicare/Medicaid rates have been reduced each year, making it difficult for any county to operate a nursing home facility.
As a result, the County has paid a total of more than $30 million over the past two years to subsidize the facility. In 2013, the total subsidy amounted to $13.5 million.
Because Counties have in part experienced decreasing reimbursements, several counties in recent years have sold their nursing homes to private operators:
These Counties include: Burlington (2012), Camden (2013), Cumberland (2011), Essex (1996), Hudson (2002), Mercer (2010). Salem County is currently considering a sale.
BACKGROUND AND PROCESS
Facing an uncertain financial future of declining Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements, the County of Union in 2012 retained Complete HealthCare Resources-Eastern, Inc. to independently and objectively analyze and evaluate possible options for the Hospital. The study was to seek ways to reduce costs and enable the Hospital to react to a changing health-care environment by determining if and how Hospital operations could continue in the present environment and the future in light of the anticipated reduction in the Medicare/Medicare reimbursements and increases in the County’s subsidy of the Hospital.
After analyzing the operations of the Hospital, CHR issued a report in January, 2013, which concluded that due to declining reimbursements, decreasing occupancy rates and Medicare census, rising employee and operational costs and capital expense requirements, the County should consider several options for the continuation of the Hospital, such as revenue enhancements, expense reductions and alternative ownership.
Based upon the conclusions and recommendations of the CHR Report, the County determined to explore transferring the Hospital operations to the Union County Improvement Authority for the possible transfer of such operations to a third-party, while simultaneously evaluating methods of revenue enhancement and expense reduction.
The Authority is authorized to cooperate and plan with the County for the acquisition or operations of a public facility such as the Hospital, including the purchase of the County’s rights, title and interest in the Hospital and the possible sale and lease back of the Hospital operations to a third party to provide for the continuous public operation of the Hospital.
Later in 2013, as authorized by their respective resolutions, the County and the Authority entered into a Memorandum of Understanding, pursuant to which the Authority was required to undertake a Request for Qualifications and Proposals (“RFQ/P”) process seeking a private provider that wished to purchase or lease the Hospital.
The Authority then established a Review Committee, which included representatives from the County and the UCIA, for the RFQ/P process, and which received five (5) proposals in December 2013, four (4) of which were for the purchase of the Hospital and one of which offered a lease option, and the Committee determined to proceed to interview four (4) of the proposers having found one (1) proposal incomplete.
The Review Committee interviewed the Proposers at least twice, and has, in compliance with the requests and suggestions of the Board of Chosen Freeholders, sought additional information from the Proposers, and allowed the Proposers to make revised offers.
The Review Committee sought and received an independent appraisal of the Hospital, which appraised value was determined to be $26,000,000 and the Review Committee finally presented the Proposers with a series of questions and also requested that they provide a “best and final offer” to purchase the Hospital.
By the end of February, 2014, the proposers submitted responses and their best and final offers to the Review Committee, and the Committee prepared a report of the proposers, proposals, and a recommendation of one of the Proposers, Center Management Group, with which to negotiate a contract of sale of the Hospital.
In November, the County decided to pursue a lease back of the Cornerstone Psychiatric Unit of the Hospital after the state advertised for private companies to run the psychiatric unit, seeking to lower costs, and Center Management was unsuccessful in obtaining an agreement with the state. State reimbursements for psychiatric care are expected to keep net costs for running Cornerstone at about $700,000 annually, the same amount currently spent for the unit.
Union County Freeholder Angel G. Estrada joined Santa at the Union County Tree and Menorah Lighting Celebration during the 31stannual Holiday Nature Craft Show at Trailside Nature and Science Center in Mountainside. (Photo by Jim Lowney/County of Union)