Green Brook Launches Project to Define Township's Future

When about 30 local leaders met at the first Community Visioning Meeting Saturday at , discussion focused on what ideas residents have for improving the township, as well as the challenges the township faces in achieving those goals.

Not surprisingly, the town's lack of a grocery store, community center and a postal ZIP code rose to the top of the list. 

The representatives in attendance, which included all of the Township Committee and former mayor and current freeholder Director Patricia Walsh, as well as school officials, local business and community group leaders, met to begin the development of a strategic plan to guide development in town.

The Township Committee hired Reagan Burkholder, from the Summit Collaborative Group, to facilitate the event. Part of Burkholder’s job is to prepare a document called,the Strategic Plan, with the ideas that were brought up at the meeting. 

Deputy Mayor Patrick Boccio said before the meeting, “I feel that many on the building blocks are already in place in Green Brook through the committees, the school board, other independent organizations, etc. What the strategic plan will do is pull them all together in a more cohesive fashion.” 

To get all these ideas out, throughout the meeting, the members in attendance were put into small groups to discuss such things as a vision of Green Brook in 10-15 years, as well as Green Brook’s strengths and weaknesses.

In 10-15 years, the group envisioned a pretty similar township, as the group agreed that Green Brook must keep its small town feel, but members did want to make a few changes to add to the community feel.

“One of the main things that we lack currently would be a food retailer,” Deputy Mayor Boccio noted. 

Discussion on a community center focused on how such a center could “create unity.” When they mentioned the community center, somebody asked if they meant just somewhere that everyone hangs out, or an actual building that would be the town's community center.

“An actual building for the town,” Township Administrator Kelly Cupit said decisively. 

The group then came up with a list of strengths much longer than the list of weaknesses. 

The strength list was continually headed by the Blue Ribbon-winning school system. The group also said that the people, volunteers, location and of course the numerous historical sites, headed by Washington Rock Park, made “Green Brook a great place to live."

Deputy Mayor Boccio even coined a term at the event: “Once you come here, you’ll never want to leave.” 

The last thing on the strengths list actually made both lists: Route 22.

“It is both a huge asset and a weakness at the same time," Chief Financial Officer Raymond Murray said during one of the small, breakout group discussions.

Some of the other weaknesses mentioned were flooding and, of course, the economy. However, the biggest weakness that was mentioned numerous times by every group was the lack of a Green Brook postal ZIP code.

“If you put 08812 into Google, you only see Dunellen, not us,” said Mayor Jerry Searfoss. “That’s not even the right county. People looking to live in Somerset County just skip right by us, because that puts us into Middlesex County.”

Township Committee member Edward Pfeifer added, “There is an 08813 available.”

On another note, Deputy Mayor Boccio also said that the town is going to need to reassess the current zoning/planning regulations.

Burkholder will be preparing a summary of the discussions and ideas from the meeting, and preparing a document for further discussion at followup meetings. The group did not set a timetable for the publication of the summary, or for future meetings.