Category: Public Info

Union County, NJ – The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders is pleased to announce that matching grants have been distributed to 19 municipalities for upgrades to playgrounds and youth athletic facilities through the Kids Recreation Trust Fund. Fourteen municipalities also received matching grants for street trees under the Greening Union County program.

Funding for both programs is provided by the Union County Open Space, Recreation, and Historic Preservation Trust Fund.

“These matching grants enable municipalities to keep their recreational facilities up-to-date, and to maintain attractive treescapes that help filter dust and pollutants in local neighborhoods,” said Freeholder Chairman Bruce H. Bergen. “It is a real pleasure to see the Open Space Trust Fund continue to benefit communities throughout Union County.”

Kids Recreation grants can be used for upgrading municipal parks and recreational facilities. Examples include playground enhancements, renovating baseball fields, resurfacing basketball courts, and safety upgrades.

Greening Union County grant funds are used for purchasing, planting, or maintaining trees on local streets and other municipal properties.

“Together, these two grant programs provide municipal policymakers with more opportunities to enhance their neighborhoods and make improvements in a timely manner, helping to meet the needs of their communities for years to come,” said Freeholder Bette Jane Kowalski, who is Chairman of the Open Space Trust Fund Board.

The Union County Open Space, Recreation, and Historic Preservation Trust Fund were established by popular referendum in 2000, and began operating in 2001. Since then, it has made more than $17 million in matching grants available to municipalities for local projects.

In addition, the Open Space Trust Fund has enabled the County to acquire more than 300 acres for public recreation, and to upgrade County facilities.

One recent example of the Open Space Trust Fund at work is Snyder Avenue Park in Berkeley Heights. This former industrial site was sought after by developers for housing, but local residents strongly supported a new County park on the site. The facilities now include a turfed and lighted multi-purpose field, a baseball field and a playground with water features.

The 2016 matching grants for the Kids Recreation and Greening Union County programs totaled $1.1 million.

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For all Union County programs and services visit ucnj.org, call the Public Info Line, 877-424-1234, email info@ucnj.org or use the online Contact Form.

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The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders announces that the next mobile paper-shredding program for personal, confidential documents will take place at Nokia – Bell Labs (formerly Alcatel-Lucent Technologies)  located at 600 Mountain Avenue in New Providence on Saturday, October 22^nd.  This will be the final paper shredding event of the 2016 season. The document shredding event will run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., rain or shine. 

“Properly disposing of personal documents is one way for resident to protect themselves from identity theft,” said Freeholder Chairman Bruce Bergen. “Union County’s mobile document-shredding program compliments the County’s recycling efforts and other green initiatives, while giving residents a convenient opportunity to dispose old documents and confidential files safely and securely.”

All Union County residents are eligible to use the paper-shredding service. In an effort to accommodate everyone, there is a limit of four, 10-pound bags or boxes per person. NEXCUT Shredding of Elizabeth will be shredding personal documents from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.  The event will end before 1 p.m. if the shredding truck reaches capacity.

This is a garbage-free event so please bring your documents in paper bags if at all possible. Plastic bags and boxes will be returned. Please remove plastic binders and large paper clips.  Paper that is wet/damp will not be accepted. Residents should continue to recycle non-confidential papers and magazines with their municipal recycling program.

Documents are put into 96-gallon containers provided by the shredding company. The items are then dumped onto a conveyor belt and shredded on site. Participants are welcome to view the shredding process via a closed-circuit television. The shredded documents are then recycled, shipped to paper mills and used as pulp.

The mobile shredding program is paid for through New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Recycling Enhancement Act Grant Funds. For more information about future events or directions please call the Recycling Hotline at 908-654-9889 or visit us online at www.ucnj.org/recycle.

Union Police Sgt. Michael Boll of the Challenged Athletes Foundation Operation Rebound Racing Team presents certificates of appreciation to the members of the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders thanking them for their support of the sports and fitness program for American military personnel, veterans and first responders with physical challenges. Union County has been a proud partner with Sgt. Boll and the organization this year as part of Chairman Bergen’s initiatives for veterans. (Photo by Jim Lowney/County of Union)

Union County Freeholder Chairman Bruce H. Bergen and Vice Chairman Sergio Granados present a resolution of thanks, appreciation and congratulations to Harinder “Harry” Bains, the owner of a deli and bar in Linden, for his role in the arrest of suspected bomber Ahmad Khan Rahimi last month.

Rahimi is accused of planting bombs in Seaside Park, Elizabeth and New York City and wounding two officers in a firefight with Linden police.

Bains saw the suspect sleeping around his bar, recognized him, and called police helping put an end to manhunt.

(Photo by Jim Lowney/County of Union)

Union County, NJ – Union County Clerk Joanne Rajoppi reminds voters that sample ballots for all 21 municipalities are now available on the new County Clerk elections website, UnionCountyVotes.com, and on the Union County Votes app, a free download for mobile devices.

“All registered voters will get a sample ballot in the mail, as always. The new website and app provide a convenient, on-the-go way to access the same information,” said Ms. Rajoppi. “Voters can take advantage of online technology to familiarize themselves with their ballot before Election Day.”

Ms. Rajoppi also advised voters that as of last year, the design of the sample ballot has been altered slightly. It now includes a blue heading to denote the School Board Election section of the ballot. The General Election section is still delineated by a red heading.

“The blue heading was chosen to ensure that voters notice every part of the ballot to vote,” said Ms. Rajoppi.

To access deed recordings and other County Clerk services, residents can still visit the County Clerk online at the Union County website, ucnj.org/countyclerk. Election links on the left column will connect visitors to UnionCountyVotes.com.

Voters with questions about the election process can call the County Clerk’s Elections Division, 908-527-4996.

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Visit the County Clerk’s new elections website, unioncountyvotes.com.

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Union County Freeholders Angel G. Estrada, Mohamed S. Jalloh and Vernell Wright joined Union County Sheriff Joe Cryan and Union Mayor Manuel Figueiredo and the Township Committee at the Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration in Union. Freeholder Estrada was the keynote speaker. (Photo by Jim Lowney/County of Union)

Union County, NJ – Lawn tennis, anyone?

That’s right, a real grass tennis court will make its debut Saturday at the Deserted Village of Feltville in the Watchung Reservation. The opening is all part of the Four Centuries in A Weekend celebration across Union County.

The grass tennis court was popular when the Village was a summer resort called Glenside Park, from 1882 to 1916.  Not used for decades, it succumbed to the forces of nature and time.

But that has all changed as a result of a Garwood Boy Scout.  Nathan Kramer chose to make the restoration of the court his Eagle Scout project and visitors will be impressed by the transformation.

“Nathan did an incredible job,” said Union County Freeholder Bette Jane Kowalski. “All the overgrown vegetation is gone.  There is new fencing so that players won’t have to chase tennis balls into the woods, and there is a beautiful new gateway welcoming visitors to the court.”

“Parks even found some old wooden tennis rackets, so players will really get to experience what it was like playing on that court decades ago,” Kowalski said.

“Four Centuries in a Weekend: A Journey through Union County’s History,” will take place on Saturday, October 15 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, October 16 from noon to 5 p.m.

Sponsored by the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders, with the cooperation of staff and volunteers at 35 house museums and historic sites, the two-day free event opens the doors to more than 370 years of history throughout the county.

Union County Parks celebrates the weekend at the Deserted Village with free hayrides, tours, colonial children’s games, and more.

Children can earn a Time Traveler’s Certificate and a Four Centuries Patch by visiting and obtaining a Time Traveler Passport at any of the 35 sites, having it stamped and returning the completed form to the Union County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs.

More details about Four Centuries in a Weekend are available online at ucnj.org.

For free copies of the Four Centuries in a Weekend tour booklet, map and further information, telephone 908-558-2550 weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., NJ Relay Users dial 711, or e-mail: culturalinfo@ucnj.org.

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For all Union County programs and services visit ucnj.org, call the Public Info Line, 877-424-1234, email info@ucnj.org or use the online Contact Form.

Connect with Union County on social media.

Long before critics would take note of his stunning folk art, Nicaraguan artist Roberto de la Selva showed up at a small enclave in the Watchung mountains.

It was 1927 and de la Selva, an associate of the artist Diego Rivera, ended up painting murals on the walls of one of the homes with scenes that would be precursors to his later wood carvings.

This Sunday, at Masker’s Barn in the Deserted Village of Feltville, there will be a special program focusing on de la Selva’s work and the need to restore the house that contains his murals.

The panel discussion, which gets underway at 1 p.m., will include Ron Burkard, an Oklahoma resident and scholar and collector of de la Selva art; Priscilla Hayes, a Deserted Village historian; Dr. Elizabeth Seaman, whose high school class created digital restorations of the murals; and Daniel Bernier, resident caretaker of the Deserted Village and administrator of its restoration.

Although the house is closed to the public, poster-size photographs of the murals will be on display at the barn.

“While Four Centuries at the Deserted Village is a lot of fun, with the hayrides, tours, the colonial children’s games and other activities, we try to strike that balance and explore some aspect of the Village’s and area’s history,” said Union County Freeholder Bette Jane Kowalski.

Past forums have included authors, historians and archeologists, who shared their research with visitors on the multiple chapters in history that have played out in the small enclave above the Blue Brook, from its colonial beginnings as farming country to a resort community.

“We never had the opportunity before to explore de la Selva’s life, which is what makes this year’s forum so unique,” Kowalski said. “And hopefully, it will help spur further efforts to save and restore his murals.”

In the late 1920s, several homes in the village were owned by Edward Grassmann, a surveyor and engineer from Elizabeth.

Grassmann arranged for de la Selva to spend his summer in House #7, where he painted about a dozen murals directly on the plaster walls throughout the first floor of the house.  The murals were covered up with wallpaper within five years, and were not uncovered until 1975.

Since that time, the vacancy of that house, lack of environmental controls, and a leaky roof led to significant deterioration of many of the murals.

The de la Selva murals have attracted the attention art scholars and were included earlier this year in an exhibition of de la Selva’s art in San Antonio, Texas. Known more as a sculptor, his murals at the Deserted Village are the only murals that he is known to have painted.

In 2013, House #7 was cited by Preservation New Jersey as one of the 10 Most Endangered Historic Sites in New Jersey.  PNJ’s listing was intended not only to show the deterioration of the murals, but also to spotlight the need for funding to assist the County in its historic preservation efforts.

For more information and directions, go to www.ucnj.org/dv

The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders celebrated the eighth annual Union County—UNICO District X Columbus Day Flag raising event at the Union County Courthouse in Elizabeth. The program, which was emceed by Freeholder Alexander Mirabella, featured a number of speakers from UNICO, County government, and Filomena Coccaro, the owner of Ciao Amici  Italian Language Cultural Center, who was the keynote speaker.

Union County Freeholder Chairman Bruce H. Bergen, Vice Chairman Sergio Granados, Freeholders Linda Carter, Angel G. Estrada, Christopher Hudak and Vernell Wright and Union County Manager Alfred Faella joined Rahway Mayor Samson Steinman and members of the Rahway City Council and the Rahway High School community in celebrating the official opening of the Rahway River Park Field. (Photo by Jim Lowney/County of Union)