Category: Public Info

MOUNTAINSIDE, NJ – The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders invites everyone to attend the 34^th Annual Harvest Festival on Sunday, September 27 at Trailside Nature and Science Center in Mountainside from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m., rain or shine. 

Harvest Festival is a celebration of Early American life featuring music, children’s crafts, games, demonstrations and displays, a petting zoo and much more. The always popular Scarecrow Building will again take place.

“This event gives those in attendance an opportunity to see early American culture and history come to life while walking through the festival grounds in the picturesque Watchung Reservation,” said Union County Freeholder Chairman Mohamed S. Jalloh. “Visitors of all ages will enjoy this fascinating, fun-filled event.”

Admission to the Harvest Festival is $4 per person, with children ages 7 and younger admitted free of charge. There may be a fee charged for some of the activities.

For more information on Trailside Nature and Science Center please visit www.ucnj.org/trailside.

(From left) Union County Freeholders Sergio Granados, Vernell Wright and Alexander Mirabella thanked State Senator Raymond Lesniak (2^nd right) for delivering the keynote speech at the Union County POW/MIA Remembrance Day ceremony outside the Union County Courthouse in Elizabeth. The annual event is sponsored by the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders to honor and remember prisoners of war and those missing in action (POW/MIA). National POW/MIA Recognition Day is observed each year on the third Friday of September. (Photo by Jim Lowney/County of Union)

Union County, NJ – Union County Clerk Joanne Rajoppi invites all County residents to take advantage of a free passport photo opportunity on Passport Day 2015, by applying for a passport at the County Clerk’s Office Annex in Westfield, at 300 North Avenue East, on Saturday October 3 from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. No appointment is necessary.  Applicants must arrive a half hour before closing.

As a special Passport Day offer, the County Clerk’s normal fee of $10.00 per passport photo will be waived, and free photos will be available to all applicants.  Also, the office will remain open for an additional hour until 2:00 p.m. The Annex is typically open from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Saturdays.

“Our annual Passport Day has been very popular with travelers planning ahead for vacations or business related travel. This year we are helping travelers prepare for the fall and winter season,” said Rajoppi. “The Westfield Annex is a convenient location for many County residents, and I encourage you to take advantage of this special offer before the hectic rush of holiday travel sets in.”

Passport Day in the USA was established as a national program by the U.S. Department of State in 2008, to help travelers avoid the stress and expense of last-minute passport issues. Budget cuts forced an end to the State Department’s program but the Union County Clerk’s office has continued to host an annual Passport Day event, including incentives for residents to prepare early for overseas travel.

U.S. citizens must present a valid passport book when entering or re-entering the United States by air. U.S. citizens entering the United States from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean islands and Bermuda at land borders and sea ports of entry must present a passport book, passport card, or other travel documents approved by the U.S. government.

“Some countries require passports to be valid for up to nine months after you arrive, so to be on the safe side always renew your passport beforehand if it will expire within nine months,”  said Rajoppi.

Passport information is available by phone from the U.S. Department of State by calling the National Passport Information Center toll-free at 1-877-487-2778, or visit online at travel.state.gov.

Passport application forms may be obtained from the Westfield Annex or the County Clerk’s main office at the County Courthouse, 2 Broad Street, Room 114 in Elizabeth.

For more details, including convenient links to passport information from the State Department, visit the County Clerk online at ucnj.org/county-clerk, call the Westfield Annex at 908-654-9859, or call the main office at 908-527-4966.

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Union County, NJ – Students from Kean University’s Center for Leadership & Service have been among our most active Adopt-a-Park volunteers. This month they pitched in again with a shoreline cleanup at Echo Lake in Mountainside, where they pulled out invasive plants like mugwort, porcelain berry vine and knotweed. Aggressive species crowd out wildflowers and other valuable plants in County parks, and these young people have been a big help in keeping them under control. You can join the effort as an individual or with a school, business or civic group by contacting Adopt-a-Park in the Union County Department of Parks and Recreation, 908-789-3683 or email bkelly@ucnj.org.

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Union County, NJ – Union County residents who are interested in becoming a certified Home Health Aide may be eligible to join a low cost, state-certified Home Health Aide training program.

Applicants must be Union County residents 18 years of age, U.S. citizens or otherwise qualified by their immigration status, and proficient in English. They must be able to perform tasks such as helping patients out of bed, giving bed baths, and otherwise assisting persons who have limited mobility.

To find out if you are eligible, contact Donna Farrell, Union County Division on Aging and Disability Resource Connection, at 908-527-4858 or dfarrell@ucnj.org.

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Union County, NJ  –  Gardening and houseplant enthusiasts in Union County can add to their store of horticultural knowledge in September and October, by attending the free Fall Speakers Series presented by the volunteer Rutgers Master Gardeners of Union County.

“The Fall Speaker Series is just one of many ways in which the Master Gardeners are helping to enhance our Union County communities,” said Freeholder Chairman Mohamed S. Jalloh. “The Freeholder Board is very proud to support this project and all of their efforts.”

The Rutgers Master Gardeners of Union County is an all-volunteer program run by the Rutgers Cooperative Extension, supported in part by the Freeholder Board. It joins Union County in a nationwide system designed to deliver useful, science based information to local communities.

The next session in the Fall Speaker Series will be “Fall Bulb Planting” on Thursday, September 24, at 7:00 p.m.  Master Gardener Joanne Krueger will explain the ins and outs of a successful fall bulb planting program. 

On Tuesday October 6 at 7:00 p.m., Master Gardener Debra Stuart will present “Happy Healthy Houseplants.” Ms. Stuart will provide guidance on indoor locations, soils, pest control and other elements of a flourishing houseplant collection.

Both sessions will take place at Rutgers Cooperative Extension headquarters on the second floor of the Union County Colleen Fraser Building, located in the county services complex at 300 North Avenue East in Westfield.

Admission is free but attendees are required to pre-register by emailing Julie Morris at Rutgers Cooperative Extension, jmorris@ucnj.org, or call 908-654-9854, and press “option 2” to speak with Judi Laganga.

No previous experience is needed to join the Rutgers Master Gardeners of Union County. Any Union County resident who loves gardening and would like to share their knowledge can take a Rutgers training course and become a certified Master Gardener. The next certification course begins soon. To obtain an application form email jmorris@ucnj.org or call 908-654-9854 (press “option 2).

For more information on all Rutgers Cooperative Extension programs in Union County, including 4-H Clubs and Master Tree Steward program, visit online at ucnj.org/rce.

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Union County, NJ — Union County Freeholder Al Mirabella, who recently walked the “Rock the Skyline” fundraiser in Jersey City for the Love Hope Strength cancer foundation, met up with two remarkable people for this photograph: Welsh Rock Star Mike Peters (of the Alarm) and a founder of Love Hope Strength, and Susan Striffolino of Kenilworth.

Ms. Striffolino signed up for the International Bone Marrow Registry through Love Hope Strength at Union County Musicfest in 2008, and as a result, wound up making a donation that saved someone’s life. She was called by Delete Blood Cancer as a possible match in June of 2012 and scheduled to donate stem cells in November, the Monday after Hurricane Sandy hit, which made the logistics a bit challenging. She wound up donating at Georgetown University Hospital anonymously to a Leukemia patient in Scotland, and then did a second donation of “T” cells for him in June of 2013. As a result, the man is now in remission.   For information on her story, please go to: http://www.lovehopestrength.co.uk/2013/08/my-lhs-story-susan-striffolino/

For more information on Love Hope Strength, please go to: http://lovehopestrength.org/

Union County, NJ – Voting is set to continue this week for Union County’s first-ever Art Outside the Box program.

The selections available for this round of voting will cover traffic control boxes in Elizabeth at the intersections of South Broad Street and South Street, Rahway Avenue and Elizabeth Avenue, and Broad Street and Caldwell Place.

Participants can vote online at www.ucnj.org/artoutsidethebox/vote.

Art Outside the Box is a new county-wide creative placemaking project created to support Union County visual artists by offering a nontraditional exhibition opportunity that broadens and diversifies public exposure to art murals.

“We are proud to see this project gain traction and involve the community in an organic selection process,” said Freeholder Chairman Mohamed S. Jalloh. “We recognize that the only way to engage our residents is by involving them in choosing the aesthetic that will symbolize and represent their neighborhoods.”

The theme for the 2015 Art Outside The Box  program was diversity, and art was sought that not only represented the community at-large, but that was uplifting, colorful, and appropriate for people of all ages. 

Offered as part of Freeholder Chairman Mohamed S. Jalloh’s Building A Community of the Arts initiative, a total of thirteen original artworks will be selected to cover traffic control boxes in Elizabeth, Linden, Rahway, and Plainfield, NJ. Each artwork will be reproduced on a special vinyl adhesive film and professionally applied to the exterior of the pre-selected traffic control boxes. 

Funded by the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders, details about the project are available online at www.ucnj.org/artoutsidethebox.

For additional information please contact the Union County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs at 908-558-2550.

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Union County, NJ — Union County Clerk Joanne Rajoppi is pleased to report that a record increase in property transaction revenues during the winter and spring has continued through the summer season and into the fall. The trend reflects improvement in the Union County economy and housing market, resulting in Clerk revenues in excess of $24 million to date.

“The activity in our Recording Division continues to reflect Union County’s long term recovery from the recession sparked by the 2008 financial crisis,” said Rajoppi. “This increased activity provides additional funds to the County budget to offset taxes, and it also helps to fund programs designed to assist local families who are still struggling to find their footing.”

In 2008, Rajoppi’s Recording Division collected revenues of more than $25 million from January through August. That September, a global economic crisis occurred, marked in the U.S. by the stock market crash. Recording Division collections for the same eight-month period dived to less than $15 million in 2009 and never recovered to the 2008 high.

Collections, however, have been trending upwards in recent years and are close to meeting the 2008 high. In 2015, revenues collected by the Recording Division from January to August totaled $24.2 million.

The Business Division, which primarily handles passport applications, trade name registrations and notary transactions, also reflects an improved economy. Its 2015 January to August revenues totaled $426,292, surpassing the previous high of $384,298 set in 2008.

“Despite the increased influx of documents for recording, my staff is keeping current and up-to-date, resulting in same day recording and posting to the public website within two days,” Rajoppi said.

County Clerk and Recorder offices in all 21 New Jersey counties are mandated to record property transactions, and to collect fees for each transaction. Part of the fee is distributed to the state, and a smaller portion is distributed to the county. A 2009 state law permits a surcharge of $3.00 per transaction to be set aside in a Homeless Trust Fund, which the County of Union began collecting in May 2010.

Programs approved for funding through the Homeless Trust Fund include vouchers designed to help at-risk families weather a temporary financial crisis without losing their homes. Funding also goes to support services to prevent homelessness, and to help homeless families obtain a home.

For information on all County Clerk programs and services visit ucnj.org/county-clerk.

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Union County, NJ  –  The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders is pleased to announce a major renovation and expansion of Watchung Stable, the county’s public riding facility. The project includes a new indoor riding ring to enable year-round use of the stable, bringing in additional revenue while providing more Union County residents with affordable access to a popular sport.

The Freeholder Board voted to approve the project during its regular public meeting on Thursday, September 10.

“The dream of year-round riding at Watchung Stable has been percolating for almost 30 years, and now we have the opportunity to open up this unique sport to more County residents,” said Freeholder Chairman Mohamed S. Jalloh. “Horseback riding teaches valuable life lessons, and on behalf of the Freeholder Board we are proud to preserve and improve this longstanding Union County tradition.”

Watchung Stable is located in the Watchung Reservation, on Summit Lane in Mountainside. Currently the facility has no indoor riding ring, limiting its use to seasonable weather from April 1 to November 1.

The stable’s Watchung Mounted Troops youth program currently serves approximately 700 children yearly, many of whom volunteer at the stable and perform related community service projects when they are not riding.

Watchung Stable also offers classes and programs for adults and casual riders, activities for non-riders, and boarding services for privately owned horses.

“The many volunteers who have supported Watchung Stables over the years have been inspirational, and they highlight how this valuable community asset has enriched Union County over the years,” said Freeholder Sergio Granados who is the Freeholder Board’s liaison to the Department of Parks and Recreation.

Three volunteer groups raise funds for equipment and help staff activities and programs at the stable: Watchung Stable Auxiliary, Watchung Jr. Hunt Club, and Watchung Riding and Driving Club. The Auxiliary also includes a subcommittee called School Horses of Watchung Retirement Program, which arranges new homes for horses that are too old for stable work.

Watchung Stable has been a fixture in Union County since the origin of the County Parks system in 1925.  Along with golf, tennis, swimming and other facilities in County parks, Watchung Stable was established to provide all County residents with access to a popular activity that would otherwise require membership in private clubs and riding facilities.

“With a year-round ring and other improvements, Watchung Stable can provide more programs for more riders, and provide more services for our boarding horses,” said Jalloh. “The additional revenue offers a fiscally responsible pathway for upgrading this very popular facility.”

The original location of Watchung Stable was in Summit, on Glenside Avenue. That site was lost in the 1980’s when the “missing link” of Interstate 78 was constructed. Work on the present facility in Mountainside began in 1983 and largely concluded in 1985. The initial plans called for the construction of an indoor ring.

The main features of the new project are:

• Construction of an energy-efficient indoor ring that requires no heating in winter
• Renovation/construction of three outdoor riding rings and six paddocks
• New surfaces, fencing, and landscaping throughout
• Installation of new barn doors to save energy and prevent heat loss in winter

The September 10 vote formally approved a contract of $2.3 million to JC Landscape Construction & Management Co., Inc. of Pequannock. Construction will begin this month and progress in phases over the next 18 months. The stable is expected to continue normal operations while construction is under way.

For more information about programs and activities at Watchung Stable, visit online at ucnj.org/parks-recreation.

Information on all Union County programs and services is available at ucnj.org.

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Recent scenes from Watchung Stable: