Mayor Brian Gallagher delivered the annual State of the Borough address at the annual reorganization meeting on January 1, 2025.
Citizens, honored guests, borough employees, fire department, rescue squad, police personnel, Somerville Borough Council, friends and family….good afternoon, and Happy New Year!
The state of our borough continues to be strong, promising, and the talk of New Jersey on how to create success. Real economic, social, and cultural growth doesn’t take place in the halls of Trenton or the streets of DC, it takes place in our small towns across this great country of ours, and Somerville will continue to lead that charge here in New Jersey.
It is amazing the success this Borough has seen in the face of statewide and national economic challenges. Somerville’s soaring housing values have provided a strategic investment, and economic opportunity for many who choose to call Somerville home, or to locate their business in. Our Main Street continues to thrive, our schools continue to provide the most wonderful, diverse education for all, and our neighborhoods are seeing significant reinvestment in people’s homes.
This did not happen by accident. Vision, determination, hard work and good people making smart decisions for the right reasons have created opportunity, and that opportunity extends into our schools, our arts and entertainment, our recreation, our historical and environmental efforts, and the list goes on. We have prepared a foundation that will continue to benefit our Borough for decades to come.
I have tried to make a priority of bringing people and ideas together in an open and public forum, and a willingness to work with each other, regardless of party, for the betterment of Somerville. This approach has been embraced by past councils, and I thank them for that …we have proven that government can be accomplished in a civil fashion as ladies and gentlemen, with character and dignity. We have separated politics from decision-making and good governing for the betterment of Somerville, and I anticipate that continuing.
This past year saw many significant events for our Borough, with more on the horizon. We will continue the work set out last year as a blueprint, as we look forward to 2025.
The Somerville Emergency Services Facilities building is complete and will be moved into in the first quarter of 2025. Decades in the making, it will house the Police Department, Fire Department, Rescue Squad ambulances, and the Office of Emergency Management. I thank the hard work of the Emergency Services Facility Committee which organized, developed, designed and implemented this “built for the future” undertaking. There were many on this committee over the years, and your hard work, now complete, will have lasting effects on emergency services in our Borough! Please stand if you were involved in this undertaking.
After many months of us fighting back against the State to help them understand and revise the rules to Somerville’s needs, the community solar program for the landfill has finally been approved. This will provide discounted electrical power to Low and Moderate-income households within Somerville. This project will also allow the borough, through the developer, to finally “cap” the landfill areas that need to be remediated. To complete this “capping” the borough has also negotiated over $10 million in grants from State Agencies to do this. This Community Solar program will bring cost savings to many families in the borough, and it will be at no cost to the tax payer. Construction should commence in the summer of 2025.
The Borough has always shouldered their responsibility very well for affordable housing. Whether that was implementing the Section 8 housing program – one of the few in Somerset County, building the senior citizen building on Mountain Ave, or understanding the rental rates in Somerville to ensure affordability. The next, huge and historic step forward in our affordable housing has just been implemented. I began discussions with two developers this past year, and while their projects were already approved, my discussion centered on helping them understand their larger community responsibility, despite having their approved plan.
They both agreed, willingly, and Somerset Development has made a financial contribution to the newly established Housing Trust Fund. Additionally, DGM Properties, the Storms family, have contributed 6 rental units to become Somerville’s first dedicated, affordable units in the Borough. These are very significant and historic steps for Somerville. In addition, any new proposed redevelopment will have an affordable housing requirement. Our full affordable housing plan will be approved this year in the State mandated time frames.
Our Public Safety Committee has been re-established, and I have asked Theresa Bonner to be the council liaison to this very important committee. I look forward to working with these civic minded folks to review and make recommendations to council on ways to improve our overall Borough safety.
The Borough saw the Farmer’s Market come to town…every Sunday, and what an awesome success!
Our redevelopment committee will see the addition of former Mayor Dennis Sullivan to it, joining former Mayor Mike Kerwin who both add significant experience, forward vision, and historic perspective to the committee…I firmly believe that the experience of those that have served in the Mayor’s seat is a great benefit to the Borough’s future.
We will continue to work with the owners of the properties damaged or impacted by the West Main Street fire. This is a very important corner, and any further delays in addressing their building is having a detrimental effect on other businesses and our downtown, and this will not stand.
With the Police Department moving, the property will be opening up…the Borough can now take steps to identify the best end use for this property.
Long an abandoned property, the former Color Technology property on Cornell Blvd is seeing movement. Current investigation of the site will now include a grant for the demolition of all structures on the site prior to clean up. And we will continue working with the DEP and the EDA to apply and acquire grants for the continued environmental investigation and the final remediation of the site.
While our volunteer services are second to none, the challenge today is engaging people to be an active part of their community, and social media commentary is not what I’m talking about. We need folks to put down their phones, stop focusing on what they think everyone else should be doing, or what they think is being done wrong, and do something right for your community. Stop the keyboard warrior comments and be a part of your community! I will work with our Fire, Squad, and OEM to create a recruitment program to engage, recruit, and retain members for their departments. Their value is not fully recognized until you need them, or don’t have them!
Somerville was Paul Robeson’s home, and this space we are in is where he went to school, and the Church across the street is where his father was Pastor. I will establish a Paul Robeson Memorial Committee to raise awareness, necessary funds, select an appropriate site, and provide for a fitting monument for all of his accomplishments.
A couple of special thank you’s….to Bernie Navatto. Bernie provided a steady hand as the Chair of the Planning Board for decades, and his thumbprint is on every corner of this Borough, and County…we will miss you Bernie!
Thank you to People like Art Adair, Rich O’Neill, Frank McAleavy, Roy Gunzelman, Kenny McCormick…and I know I have left some out…who have spent over 50 years of service to our Borough…they are what has made Somerville what it is….it is our job to continue that level of commitment.
We have a volunteer fire department and rescue squad that is second to none and when the chips are down, these are the men and women you want bursting through your front door. Our police department are intelligent, well trained, great men and women and the department is flourishing under Chief Manning.
Our volunteer committees, commissions, and boards make this borough what it is…. they are dedicated people who want to make a difference in where they live.
There is no better job in the world than being mayor or council person of this borough and only those that have served truly understand what I speak of. It is an inordinate amount of time taken away from you personally and your families, but the rewards of helping to build a great community are returned tenfold. As much as things change around us, Somerville remains this constant that lends stability to this region which other municipalities try to emulate.
We have this wonderful shared experience in our 2.5 square miles of awesome….we all call Somerville!
You see…We all choose to live in a borough that is filled with opportunity and optimism.
We live in a borough that has the best schools, the best housing opportunity for all walks of life, the best volunteer spirit anywhere in the state.
We choose to live in a place where children grow up with a slice of America, every nationality, every income bracket, every color, religion, and ethnic group.
We choose to live in a place where politics takes a backseat to good decision-making.
We live in a town that is almost a Norman Rockwell painting, and I love it.
Those before us in these seats have set the groundwork for what we have and it is our responsibility to continue that great work and help all of our citizens realize the optimistic opportunity and share responsibility we all have to our borough.
So do I have an optimistic outlook? Absolutely…. and I don’t have any other way to look at our borough, nor should you.
To the borough Council, I say thank you as your time serving our borough is never fully recognized. I asked that all of your decisions be based on neighbors helping neighbors and working together to better this borough. And….when all else fails, and I have said this a number of times before, go have a beer with a firefighter ….they have a way of shedding light on issues that is clear, concise, sometimes in very direct language, but always in the best interest of Somerville.
We live in a very special place. Somerville has this mix of people, personalities, economics, and culture. It is a place that holds the cool vibe of an urban city, but with the safety, warmth and security of a small town, it is a mix of moms and dad’s, kids, grandkids, grandparents, and a mix of arts and lifestyles. Best of all it is a mix of volunteer spirit, responsibility to our neighbor, that is what keeps our town thriving and a place where families want to live, and people want to visit ….the mix we have here in Somerville is absolute magic.
I wish great prosperity for all the good people of our borough in this beautiful place we all call home.
God bless our troops.
God bless our country…
and God bless our Somerville!