When the annual capital projects budget for Scotch Plains is set to be introduced at the March 19 Township Council meeting, I am pleased to report that long-overdue capital projects within our aging municipal parks system will continue to be prioritized, along with public safety.
Since I joined the Council in 2021, I’ve been consistent in saying that we will not be able to make all of the necessary improvements to our aging parks and recreation facilities overnight. But, steadily, we are getting it done.
Responding to residents, the Township Council is funding parks and recreation projects in Scotch Plains at historic levels. For too long, for one reason or another, these facilities took a back seat among municipal priorities.
We have transformed Southside Field and created a brand-new immersive play space at Greenside Playground. We gutted the once unusable tennis courts at Green Forest Park to create new opportunities for tennis, pickleball, and street hockey, began to install lifesavingAEDs at all municipal park facilities and added tons of site furnishings and other new amenities throughout the municipal park system.
This has all been accomplished while we still addressed other pressing priorities, such as public safety, with an eye toward continuing to be as tax neutral as possible along the way.
The proposed 2024 capital budget includes infrastructure improvements at Haven Park, new tennis and basketball courts at Kramer Manor Park, new pickleball courts at Brookside Park, the continued restoration of our very own national treasure, the Shady Rest Country Club, and maintenance funding for these amenities.
The proposed budget also funds upgrades for the Department of Public Works, equipment for the new Fire Department EMS Service, which went into service in 2023 to enhance public safety, new hoses and nozzles for the Fire Department, new police vehicles, safety cameras, and traffic calming devices to facilitate law enforcement efforts, the resurfacing of Cooper Road; the DPW’s annual local road program, and upgrades to the township’s information technology systems.
Many residents are surprised to learn that only about 14 percent of the tax dollars collected fund the facilities and services that the municipality provides. The balance of the funds, while collected by the Township, is paid directly to the County of Union and the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Board of Education, as well as to fund the library and open space.
We have been able to make improvements with only an approximately 1 percent increase in municipal taxes over the last decade. The cost of just about everything has risen at a much steeper pace.
We are able to get it done with Township Council’s wise decisions on redevelopment PILOTS, smart zoning decisions, and by embracing new municipal revenue sources, like the municipally taxed recreational cannabis businesses that renovated blighted and previously abandoned buildings on Route 22’s commercial corridor.
Together, we are moving our community forward. The evidence is everywhere, and soon there will be a few more examples to add to the list.
Councilman Matthew Adams Scotch Plains
