News-pourri

The township’s watchdog of historic sites gave its stamp of approval to a handful of proposals at its April 1 meeting. In addition to granting certificates of appropriateness for new facade plans for the former Unclaimed Freight building on Easton Avenue, commissioners did likewise for the construction of new homes on Williams Street and Neuville Drive, the replacement of a …

Changes are underway at the former Unclaimed Freight building on Easton Avenue. Once the home of mainly a discount furniture store, the structure soon will house a gym and will get a completely new facade. Plans for the facade were brought before the township’s Historic Preservation Advisory Commission April 1. The commission needed to review the plans because the property …

After seven years with the school district, interim schools Superintendent Evany Pagan is moving on to another position. Pagan, who was assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction before taking on the interim role at the beginning of February, next week will become the assistant superintendent of schools for the Passaic school system. The Hillsborough resident said her leaving was “bittersweet.” …

Franklin Park resident Jerry L. Midgette, the Somerset County Election Administrator, is the first African-American elected president of the New Jersey Association of Election Officials. Midgette’s election came during the NJAEO’s annual conference on March 18 in Atlantic City. Midgette, a former election lawyer, is also the first Somerset County election official to lead the organization, according to a press …

U.S. Rep. Rush Holt, D-12, says he hasn’t thought too much about what he’ll do when he leaves Congress next January. “I don’t know if I’ll go back to academia, go to a foundation, work with the (Obama) administration,” he said. How about running for governor? “My next act is very much open,” he said with a smile, after a …

Applications to build two homes on undersized lots on Douglas Avenue and two warehouses on Roosevelt Avenue were approved at the March 5 Planning Board meeting. The home developer, Edison-based Gregory Kingburk,wants to build two, two-story homes with four bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms, he told teh board. The homes would also have full basements and one-car garages, he said. Paul …

A two-story, 160,000-square-foot addition to Sentinel Datacenters building on Cottontail Lane and Pierce Street could bring 40 new jobs into the township, the Planning Board was told at its March 5 meeting. The company in 2009 converted what was a warehouse into a 168,000-square-foot data center, its attorney, Peter Lanfrit, told the board. He said the company had always planned …

The township Historic Preservation Advisory Commission held two informal hearings at its March 4 meeting, one of which dealt with a building raising and another which dealt with a proposed new home. Joachim Messing of Neuville Drive told the commission that he wants to tear down a garage on property he owns next to his house and build another home. …

The Kingston Presbyterian Church on March 4 received the go-ahead from the Historic Preservation Advisory Commission to use “modern” materials in the restoration of the church steeple. That restoration also means that a church bell will once again ring from the steeple, the commission was told. The commission had to review the plans because Kingston is a state- and nationally …

UPDATE 2: The Manville Causeway bridge is now closed,  according to a state Department of Transportation spokesman. Repairs to the Manville Causeway bridge and part of Route 518 will mean road closures and detours into the summer. Rehabilitation of the causeway bridge – which traverses the Delaware & Raritan Canal and connects Weston Canal Road with Wilhousky Street in Manville …