SCOTCH PLAINS — The Planning Board retained its leadership and professional team for 2026 as it looked ahead to a year that will likely be spent updating the Township’s Master Plan and getting ready for downtown redevelopment to get underway At Monday’s Reorganization Meeting, Jeffrey Strauss was chosen to serve as Chairman for a fifth year. Mr. Strauss, a member of the Township Council from 2007 to 2010, has been a Board Member since 2007, except for a brief period in the mid-2020s. Nominating him for a fifth term at the helm, Township Zoning Officer Robert LaCosta said Mr. Strauss has “done an outstanding job” and called him a “great, positive attribute to Board”.