Dunellen Continues to Make Progress! 2021 Year in Review and 2022 Look Ahead

The Borough of Dunellen rang in the New Year with its annual re-organization meeting on Saturday, January 1, 2022 at noon. Borough Council welcomed newly sworn-in councilpersons Teresa Albertson and Joseph Paltjon to their three year terms. Councilperson Trina Rios was nominated and approved by a bipartisan majority for Council President. The appointment of Rios as Council President is of historical significance for the Borough as she is the first-elected Hispanic representative in the Borough’s history, and the first Hispanic Council President.

Diana Starace, resident of Dunellen, was recognized as Dunellen’s 2021 Citizen Volunteer of the Year and John Gibney, former Dunellen mayor, was presented with Dunellen’s 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award for his years of service to the community as a councilperson, mayor and long-time volunteer.

Mayor Jason F. Cilento provided the State of the Borough address highlighting the Borough’s accomplishments in 2021 and the agenda for 2022.

• Accomplishments include:

• Paving South Madison Avenue, South Avenue, High Street, Lehigh Street, Madison Avenue (between North Avenue and South Avenue), and Grove Street (between Prospect Avenue and South Avenue). The aforementioned roads were paved with assistance from NJDOT Municipal Aid grant funds and the Middlesex County’s mill and pave program;
• Completing of the South Madison Avenue culvert project by Middlesex County;
• Received a grant in the amount of $556,530.00 in 2021 from NJDOT’s Municipal Aid for fiscal year 2022 for improvements on Kline Place;
• Improving Basketball courts in both Morecraft and Gavornick Parks;
• Adopting Ordinance 2021-23, Restoration to Streets and Sidewalks under Chapter 256-9; which has enhanced the Borough’s control over the paving and restoration process of its streets when utilities or private contractors must conduct work on them;
• Amending the Dunellen Redevelopment Plan that addressed several topics including:
  • Fractional numbers of inclusionary units (affordable housing) should a project not produce a whole number. A payment in lieu trust fund has been created based on a formula to make up for the fractional numbers. Funds may be later used on affordable housing units in other projects when fractional numbers need to be made whole;
  • Density and the number of units for development projects based on building height (three stories) and different sizes of 1-bedroom, 2-bedroom, and 3-bedroom units;
  • Parking requirements for development projects, requesting adequate parking for both residential and commercial tenants. The setting up of a payment in lieu of parking plan which would establish a trust fund for future parking projects in downtown Dunellen, as well as provide electronic vehicle parking stations;
• Promoting Dunellen to the film and television industry with the inclusion of the borough in the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission catalog.
• Adopting quality of life ordinances including:
  • Banning the sale of electronic smoking devices within five hundred feet of schools and parks;
  • Prohibiting residents and businesses from disposing household or business trash or rubbish in public receptacles, as well as waterways of any kind;
  • Requiring property owners to remove snow and ice from corners within 24 hours after snowfall and requiring snow or ice to be removed from abutting sidewalks on or around fire hydrants; and
  • Preventing the delivery of unsolicited handbills and circulars to properties in Dunellen and creating a process to report these unwanted solicitations;
• Continuing communications and transparency through the use of regular and timely printed and digital resources including: updates to the Borough website (www.dunellen-nj.gov), monthly e-newsletter Next Stop! Dunellen!, quarterly printed newspaper The Dunellen Report, monthly Messages from the Mayor, video updates with Mayor Cilento, and quarterly Mayoral Town Halls on important topics (e.g. legalization of cannabis in New Jersey and Understanding Redevelopment in Dunellen), and public PowerPoint presentations of the budget including infographics explaining the budget and Borough’s goals;
• Celebrating and honoring Sydney McLaughlin, Dunellen native, 2-time Olympian, 2x gold medalist and world record holder for 400-meter hurdles, with a watch party and track naming ceremony, which drew hundreds to Columbia Park;
• Hiring two new Dunellen police officers;
• Creating the Dunellen Diversity & Inclusion Committee to celebrate Dunellen’s diversity;
• Updating Dunellen Office of Emergency Management Emergency Operations Plans, receiving $10,000.00 grant from the Emergency Management Agency Assistance grant program, and creating a 15-member Community Emergency Response Team (CERT);
• Continuing the revitalization of downtown Dunellen, welcoming new businesses, builders and investors; and
• Receiving $1.2 million in permit fees from the Dunellen Station development project which has rapidly being constructed and anticipated to welcome new residents in summer 2022.

Agenda items for 2022 include:

• Continuing the revitalization of downtown Dunellen by:
  • Constructing several mixed-use projects that have been approved.
  • Introducing additional mixed-use construction projects to the Borough Council and Dunellen Planning Board;
• Enhancing economic development in downtown Dunellen by amending the Dunellen Redevelopment Plan to allow for breweries, wineries and distilleries;
• Finalizing the Dunellen Sign Ordinance to create a more cohesive look for Dunellen’s business district;
• Conducting a Master Plan Re-Examination;
• Continuing to explore ways to save money through shared service agreements;
• Continuing to review and amend outdated ordinances to enhance the quality of life in Dunellen; and
• Continuing our relationship with Middlesex County for their mill and pave program, as well as the use of NJDOT Municipal Aid grant funds to re-pave more roads in Dunellen.

Mayor Cilento also announced at the re-organization meeting the generous donation by Sydney McLaughlin to assist in the rebuild of the Dunellen Fire Department. In his annual address, Mayor Cilento noted how Dunellen truly is a Miracle Mile by stating: “I am encouraged by the people of our Borough and their strength, optimism, and generosity towards one another. How we come together not in only good times, but also in times of need, speaks to the soul of who we are as a people in this community and provides proof of the phrase ‘The Miracle Mile!’”

Photo 1 Caption: Teresa Albertson after being sworn-in as a councilwoman alongside her husband Pete Sr. and their son Pete Jr.

Photo 2 Captions: Joseph Paltjon after being sworn-in as a councilwoman alongside his wife Melissa their daughters.

Photo 3: Former Dunellen Mayor John Gibney stands with his family, as he receives the Dunellen 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award.

Photo 4: Diana Starace receives Dunellen’s 2021 Citizen Volunteer of the Year Award.