Investing in Central New Jersey

Especially during this economic downturn when our local governments face deteriorating budgets, I will work to ensure that worthy community initiatives receive federal funding.   These projects merit funding because they will create jobs and improve the quality of life in Central New Jersey.

Click here to see a list of projects I requested for Fiscal Year 2010.

Click here to see a list of projects I requested for the Fiscal Year 2010 transportation authorization page.

On March 11, President Obama today signed into law the Fiscal Year 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Bill. The bill contains funding for the following initiatives that I secured for Central New Jersey:

Hunterdon                         Mercer                         Middlesex                         Monmouth

Hunterdon County  

$35,000 to provide video cameras for West Amwell Township police vehicles. The Township requested the funding to help the police department equip all units with video cameras. In addition to improving law enforcement efforts, having these mobile video cameras would be, according to the Township, a liability deterrent to the work of the department – an issue that affects the work of the department.

Mercer County

$237,500 to the Greater Trenton Area YMCA to build a state-of-the-art health, wellness, recreation and social center to serve families in the area.   The facility would be the first non-profit development of infrastructure in the city in over 25 years and it would offer employment for over 100 full and part-time employees.

$285,000 to Borough of Pennington to create the Pennington Borough extension of the Lawrence-Hopewell Trail.   The extension will connect the Borough of Pennington to the 20-mile regional pathway for cyclists and pedestrians and to the Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association education center.  

$190,000 for the Jewish Family and Children’s Services (JFCS) of Greater Mercer County to administer its Naturally Occurring Retirement Community (NORC) “Aging in Place Initiative.”   The JFCS “Aging in Place Initiative” will help improve the ability of the highly concentrated aging population in Mercer County to access services and to solve its own problems.   The “Aging in Place Initiative” will coordinate health and social services and promote independence.

$215,000 to Mercer County to implement an ex-offender re-entry program for individuals returning from prison to communities in Mercer County.   In Mercer County, nearly 1,000 prisoners from the state correctional system and from the Mercer County Correctional facility will return to their communities.   This program will establish a case management program in Mercer County, which studies have shown to improve post-release outcomes.  

$475,000 for Trenton Fuel Works to reconstruct a Cellulosic Biodiesel Biorefinery from an existing, unused sludge dehydration plant.   This plant will collect organic waste generated from food service, food production, landscape waste and paper manufacturing and convert it into a renewable, non-petroleum fuel that will serve as an alternative to gasoline.  

$200,000 to City of Trenton Police Department to purchase the ShotSpotter Gunshot Location System.   The ShotSpotter Gunshot Location System is a computerized network of sensors to be located at strategic, high-crime regions of the city and will help the Police Department locate the origin of gunshots and differentiate gunshots from backfiring cars and fireworks.   In municipalities where similar systems have been implemented, gunfire has decreased by 60 percent to 90 percent.

$600,000 to City of Trenton YouthStat anti-gang program, which is working to prevent at-risk youth from continual involvement in the criminal justice system.   Under the YouthStat approach, multiple public and private law enforcement, criminal justice, and social service agencies work collaboratively on a weekly basis to identify at-risk youngsters, implement appropriate crime prevention and other intervention approaches, and monitor their progress.

In addition, the Army Corps of Engineers is directed to continue work on Assunpink Creek in Trenton.

Middlesex County

$332,500 to the Township of North Brunswick to conduct an analysis of extending Finnegan’s Lane to connect U.S. Route 1 to U.S. Route 130.   Central Middlesex County has a shortage of east-west arterial roads, and as a result the average Middlesex County resident spends more than one hour commuting daily.    Middlesex County conducted a study of extending Finnegan’s Lane more than six years ago, and in order to proceed with this project, alternative analyses must be conducted.  

$380,000 for the South Brunswick Municipal Area Residential Transit System to launch a residential shuttle bus service. The South Brunswick Municipal Area Residential Transit (SMART) system would provide shuttle bus service from strategic pick up points throughout the community.  

$951,500 to SiGNa Chemistry, Inc. of Monmouth Junction, to support their hydrogen fuel research. The funding will support research and development of two air-stable compounds capable of producing hydrogen fuel from their reaction with water.   In 2008, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recognized SiGNa Chemistry with the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award for its research.

$451,000 for Rutgers University’s Blueberry and Cranberry Research Extension Center.   New Jersey is the nation’s second largest producer of highbush blueberries and the nation’s third largest producer of cranberries.   This research program, which is conducted by the New Jersey Agriculture Experiment Station and Cook College, identifies the health attributes of these native fruits, investigates new and value-added uses, and provides new and improved blueberry and cranberry varieties.   Maintaining current varieties and developing new varieties of these specialty crops is important for the future of this industry in New Jersey.

Monmouth County

$190,000 to support the New Jersey Virtual School (NJVS), a program created by the Monmouth-Ocean Educational Services Commission. NJVS provides students in over 100 public school districts with online educational opportunities. The mission of the NJVS is to use information technology as a tool to build connected communities composed of students, parents, and teachers that inspire learners and deliver high quality, innovative, web-based instructional programs.   The NJVS is a state-approved No Child Left Behind-online supplemental provider. This funding will help NJVS expand their curricular offerings, provide professional development for teachers, and make the courses available to additional students throughout the state.  

$183,000 for Sandy Hook and the Raritan Bay, secured with Rep. Frank Pallone, to allow for the construction of levees, floodwalls and beach replenishment in order to prevent flooding in areas like Middletown. The project would provide protection to low-lying residential and commercial structures built upon and near salt and freshwater marshes that are experiencing flooding caused by coastal storm inundation. 

$238,000 for the Visiting Nurses Association of Central New Jersey (VNACJ) to purchase new, state-of-the-art telemonitoring technology. The funding, secured with Rep. Frank Pallone, will permit the association to expand its current program. In conjunction with CentraState Healthcare System and the Monmouth County Office on Aging, VNACJ launched and implemented a successful telehealth program for patients in central New Jersey with congestive heart failure, diabetes, and obesity.  In 2007, VNACJ was able to monitor 442 frail cardiac patients, which decreased rehospitalization by 60 percent.

$950,000 for the non-profit 180 Turning Lives Around, which is dedicated to ending domestic violence and sexual assault. The funding will allow the organization to build a new domestic violence shelter. This new facility would allow the organization to meet the demonstrated demand to serve 35 to 40 women and children, far beyond their current capacity, and to provide services to clients with physical disabilities.