Home Care In Hillsborough Township, NJ

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — The Hillsborough Township Public Schools are once again expected to lose state school aid for the 2025 fiscal year as part of the latest state budget proposal.

Hillsborough is projected to lose $2,728,504 compared to last year. In 2024, Hillsborough schools received $20,642,528; next year, the district is slated to receive $17,914,024. This is a 13.22 percent decrease.

"As a Hillsborough taxpayer myself to stick it to Hillsborough taxpayers is unfair," said Hillsborough Township Superintendent Michael Volpe to Patch.

Volpe had initially heard the district was expecting to lose about $250,000 in funding, which he knew seemed off. He went to the Business Office and asked for the district to instead budget for a $400,000 cut.

"I thought I was already being conservative but to receive a cut that is 10 times bigger than what we were expecting is outrageous, especially without any advanced notification," said Volpe.

Find out what's happening in Hillsboroughwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Moving forward, Volpe said the roughly $2.7 million in cuts "is going to hurt" the district as the budget is prepared.

"This will be painful and really is running counter to what we have been trying to do with the district," said Volpe of his Build Boro Back initiative.

Only one other school district in Somerset County lost funding. Franklin Township is also seeing a decrease of 1.80 percent in state funding.

Vowing to fight back, Volpe said he has already reached out to Senator Andrew Zwicker, Assemblyman Roy Freiman, and other people in the state for help. He also spoke with the President of the Hillsborough Education Association Henry Goodhue and the sentiment was the same.

"We all had the same level of outrage. We are not going to take this lying down," said Volpe. "The state ultimately makes the call on funding amounts but they will hear from us. This is not fair for Hillsborough."

More than 60 school districts will see funding cuts in double-digit percentages, according to proposed district-by-district funding data published this week. Another 200-plus school districts are poised to see aid increases in the double-digit percentages.

During his annual budget address to legislators Tuesday, Gov. Phil Murphy noted the proposed plan includes the single largest investment in public education in state history. The budget would fully fund the state’s school funding formula for the first time, raising public school funding by $908 million to $11.7 billion. Read More: New NJ School Aid Amounts Released: Who's Getting More?

See below for a district-by-district breakdown of state school funding for Somerset County for fiscal year 2025:

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ - Township officials are urging Somerset County to conduct a regional study on the impact of increased truck traffic and potential warehouse facilities.

“Warehouse proposals are impacting the entire state. These proposals have a significant impact, not only on the town they are in, but all surrounding towns that lead to the major road arteries. Working with the county is imperative as the roads are outside the jurisdiction of local towns,” said Mayor Robert Britting.

The Hillsborough Township Planning Board adopted a resolution Dec. 14 last year that recommended the Somerset County Board of Commissioners and/or the Somerset County Planning Board undertake a regional study of truck and vehicular traffic similar to that undertaken by Middlesex County in the Southern Middlesex County Freight Study.

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“I’m proud that Hillsborough is proactively seeking to work with not only the county but other townships to reduce the negative impacts of warehousing,” Britting said. "The Somerset County study should propose measures to reduce the impact of such traffic, including, but not limited to, speed reduction, possible truck restrictions, and improvements to physical infrastructure."

The Planning Board requests the Somerset County study evaluate the impact of truck and vehicular traffic related to warehousing, freight, light industrial, and related activities, relative to the guidelines and procedures promulgated in the New Jersey State Planning Commission document titled "Distribution Warehousing and Goods Movement Guidelines" and other applicable materials, on an inter-municipal level.

Any Somerset County study must evaluate both the areas and roads currently experiencing significant detrimental and/or negative impacts including Amwell Road, Route 206, Route 202, I-287 and the overall future impacts of warehousing and related activities would have on the residents of Hillsborough Township, according to Britting.

“The Township is keenly interested in the results of such a study as they could potentially influence elements of our Master Plan reexamination,” said Deputy Mayor John Ciccarelli.

The Somerset Study must also be inter-municipal and evaluate the current and future negative impacts on Franklin Township, Montgomery Township, Manville Borough, Raritan Borough, the remainder of Somerset County, and, where appropriate, areas that are outside, but directly impact, Somerset County (such as but not limited to Piscataway and Edison, according to Ciccarelli.

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — Marking one of the largest open space acquisitions in two decades, the Somerset County Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously to purchase 402 acres in Hillsborough, expanding the 6,000-acre Sourland Mountain Preserve in Central Jersey’s largest forest.

During the Tuesday night meeting, the Commissioners agreed to purchase the property, known as the Hillsborough Golf & Country Club and located on both sides of Wertsville Road, for $6.75 million from the estate of the late Bryce Thompson IV.

Somerset County led the negotiations with the Thompson family and will contribute the largest amount to the purchase using around $3 million from the County’s dedicated open space tax fund.

New Jersey’s Green Acres program is expected to contribute about $2.3 million, and Hillsborough Township will contribute the remaining amount from its open space fund.

"This property has long been at the very top of our priority list for preservation, and we are grateful to the state and Hillsborough for helping us make this acquisition possible," said Somerset County Commissioner Director Shanel Y. Robinson. "This is the single largest open space acquisition Somerset County has made in 20 years."

Find out what's happening in Hillsboroughwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"The preservation of this property expands the Sourland Mountain Preserve, which is so vital to protecting plant and wild animal life, migrating birds, clean water, and outdoor recreation," said Commissioner Melonie Marano, who serves as liaison to the Somerset County Open Space Advisory Committee.

The 402 acres stretch from the north side of the Sourland Mountain to the Amwell Valley below and are visible from miles away.

The parcel south of Wertsville Road consists of 75 vacant acres on the side of the mountain with areas of mature woodland and open farm fields. The portion north of Wertsville Road consists of 327 acres, including about one mile of Neshanic River frontage, and had been utilized as a golf course and polo field. Structures on the property include three storage barns, three residences, a small motel, and a clubhouse.

While both the buyers and sellers have signed the sale agreement, the closing will not happen for several weeks or months, during which time the property will remain privately owned and should not be visited.

Once the County takes ownership, the public will be invited to contribute to a master plan to guide the passive development, restoration, and use of the property, including potential uses for existing buildings.

"Public service is about leaving our children a better world, and protecting natural land helps achieve that," said Hillsborough Mayor Robert Britting, Jr. "Working directly with Somerset County to protect over 400 acres of land in Hillsborough was an honor."

"The New Jersey Conservation Foundation is thrilled Somerset County has authorized the preservation of this strategically important property as it is adjacent to the 1,150-acre Rainbow Hill at Sourland Mountain Preserve, which we manage together," said Jay Watson, Co-Executive Director. "We fully support the County's preservation of the Hillsborough Golf and Country Club property and will assist in any way we can."

The $41 million federally-funded project to widen Route 206 in Hillsborough has been halted since May 2023.

Patch Staff

HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — Hillsborough is starting to make progress on the road to restoring the stalled Route 206 widening project.

Mayor Robert Britting, Jr., who has made it his mission to get the project back on track, recently updated residents on the progress.

"I am incredibly happy to report that the NJDOT[New Jersey Department of Transportation] department has responded to our Hillsborough Township Engineering Department's concerns in regard to safety with the current state of 206. You will see numerous safety components that are out there and different resources that the state has put out there," said Britting in a video to the community on Thursday.

The NJDOT is evaluating multiple areas that are safety issues that Hillsborough pointed out after Township officials headed to Trenton in February to sit down with NJDOT officials. Read More: Hillsborough Heads To Trenton To Restart Stalled Route 206 Project

"They have responded to us in a very positive way and they are actively pursuing solutions for numerous issues along 206," said Britting.

Find out what's happening in Hillsboroughwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Issues include:

"Now yes that is a band-aid for the larger problem but in the moment those are critical that we need to have addressed and the NJDOT had been amendable to that and they are showing action which is very good," Britting.

Additionally, Britting said he has met with Assemblyman Roy Freiman(District 16), who lives in Hillsborough, to see what his team can do to get 206 back on track.

"This just shows you the critical nature of making sure the right people are involved for the right reasons to ensure we get this project back on track as soon as humanly possible. Because we all know, we all know, the critical nature of 206 and how it has caused significant issues for our township from a safety standpoint, it has impacted our businesses negatively. It really is challenging getting to and from work. Just going north and south is just a major major issue," said Britting.

Britting also noted that retailers and larger businesses want to come to Hillsborough but the Route 206 project must be completed first.

While the project hasn't resumed fully yet, Britting told Patch that he has a good feeling about it.

"I feel good. It is still cold now but when the warmer weather arrives who knows what will happen," said Britting.

The $41 million federally-funded project to widen Route 206 was halted in May 2023 after the NJDOT terminated its contract with Konkus Corporation.

This prompted Congressman Tom Kean, Jr. to visit the halted Route 206 widening project and spoke with impacted business owners on Sept. 15, 2023. Read More: Congressman Kean Visits 'Abandoned' Route 206 Widening Project

Following the visit, Kean sent a letter to NJDOT Commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti urging that the department take all necessary steps to restart construction on the Route 206 Widening Project.

A petition was also created and signed by the Hillsborough businesses that are impacted with hopes of getting NJDOT to restart the project again. Read More: Petition Pushes To Restart Route 206 Widening Project In Hillsborough

NJDOT previously said in September that it is the Surety’s obligation to complete the contract. Read More: NJDOT Addresses Halted Route 206 Project Concerns In Hillsborough

Since becoming Mayor in January, Britting has made it his mission to address the Route 206 Project.

"You have my commitment to get 206 back on track as soon as humanly possible," said Britting.

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HILLSBOROUGH, NJ — Hillsborough Township officials will be heading to Trenton to sit down with New Jersey Department of Transportation(NJDOT) officials to discuss their list of concerns revolving around the stalled Route 206 widening project.

Mayor Robert Britting, Jr. provided an update for residents during the Tuesday night Township Committee meeting calling thr project "probably one of the most critical items that is hitting Hillsborough... because we all drive on it and know how unsafe it is and it needs to be fixed."

The Township Attorney previously sent a legal letter to NJDOT with a list of their safety concerns including open catch basins.

Because of this letter, all future letters must go through the Attorney General's Office, said Britting, Jr.

"This has now created another layer of review and longer response time," said Britting Jr. "This however was necessary after not receiving numerous response actions that we deem necessary."

Find out what's happening in Hillsboroughwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Britting, Jr. then held up a book of all the communication the Township had sent to NJDOT.

The Deputy Attorney General reviewed all of Hillsborough's safety concerns and said that their findings found "no emergent safety concerns at the time," said Britting, Jr.

The Township pointed to the open drainage catch basins that are wide enough for a child to fall into which prompted the meeting in Trenton.

The meeting will be held in February. Britting, Jr. will then update the public on what happened.

The $41 million federally-funded project to widen Route 206 was halted in May 2023 after the NJDOT terminated its contract with Konkus Corporation.

This prompted Congressman Tom Kean, Jr. to visit the halted Route 206 widening project and spoke with impacted business owners on Sept. 15, 2023. Read More: Congressman Kean Visits 'Abandoned' Route 206 Widening Project

Following the visit, Kean sent a letter to NJDOT Commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti urging that the department take all necessary steps to restart construction on the Route 206 Widening Project.

A petition was also created and signed by the Hillsborough businesses that are impacted with hopes of getting NJDOT to restart the project again. Read More: Petition Pushes To Restart Route 206 Widening Project In Hillsborough

NJDOT previously said in September that it is the Surety’s obligation to complete the contract. Read More: NJDOT Addresses Halted Route 206 Project Concerns In Hillsborough

"Unfortunately, the Surety has been unresponsive to the many inquiries of the Department’s counsel since notified of the contractor’s termination," said NJDOT in September. "If the Surety continues to drag its feet on identifying a replacement contractor, the Department, through its counsel, will exhaust every option to restart this contract, and accelerate construction to the extent feasible."