As we come to the end of 2024, here’s a look back at the top stories in Hopewell Valley.
Referendum
This year, Hopewell Valley voters overwhelmingly defeated a $87 million school district referendum for improvements to district school facilities on Sept. 17.
They voted against the bond referendum with 3,422 votes. Only 1,566 votes were cast in favor of approving the measure.
In a statement thanking residents for going out to vote, the Hopewell Valley Regional School District (HVRSD) said, “Our building needs remain, and we face tough decisions to address those challenges. We will carefully consider how to balance those needs with programming needs.”
The HVRSD administration and school board had proposed referendum projects for Hopewell Valley Central High School (HVCHS); Timberlane Middle School (TMS); elementary schools – Bear Tavern, Hopewell, and Stony Brook; and Toll Gate Grammar School.
The projects included roof replacements; indoor improvements; HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) improvements; exterior door replacements; synthetic turf field; an auxiliary gym floor replacement; and building and classroom additions at Bear Tavern and Toll Gate.
Retirement
In Pennington, this summer it was announced that Police Chief Doug Pinelli had submitted his retirement letter effective Feb. 1, 2025.
“It was just kind of a last-minute decision. While it was an extremely hard decision it was time,” Pinelli said to the Hopewell Valley News, explaining it was “unfortunately, one of the hardest decisions I had to make.”
He added that it took a lot of back and forth. Pinelli has served with the Pennington Police Department for 20 years, became the borough’s chief of police in 2020, first serving as interim chief and then appointed chief after his employment agreement was authorized by Borough Council that year.
He has led the police department as chief since the retirement of former Public Safety Director William Meytrott and Pennington’s switch from a public safety director model to police chief.
Pinelli joined the Pennington police force in 2004 and served as patrol officer until he was promoted to sergeant in 2016. The next year, he was promoted to sergeant first class.
Prior to the police department, he was a member of Pennington Fire Company from 2000 to 2005 serving as chief. He is a life member of the Pennington Fire Department.
Pinelli worked through the ranks of the fire company to become chief and resigned when he started as a police officer with the Pennington Police Department.
Prior to joining the Pennington police force, Pinelli served in the Belmar Police Department as a Class II officer for a couple years and was also employed by the Hopewell Township Public Works Department.
His father, Micheal Pinelli and his brother, David Pinelli, are former fire chiefs of the Pennington Fire Company.
Water utility
Hopewell Borough is exploring the potential sale of its water utility.
The Borough Council had approved increases in water and sewer rates for businesses and residents to cover the 2023 water department budget, which had been over budget due to leaks and other costs, and to cover the current 2024 budget.
Hopewell Borough is in the WIPA (Water Infrastructure Protection Act) process, which the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) approved this summer.
WIPA authorizes certain owners of water or wastewater systems to enter into a long-term lease contract or sell their water or wastewater assets to a private or public entity.
Borough Council members in November approved request for qualifications (RFQ) from public and private entities. An RFQ is a pre-qualification stage that is being used to identify and verify potential interested buying parties.
“It does not mean we are going to sell it to them,” Mayor Ryan Kennedy said. “It does not mean that they have to provide us yet with what their proposal will be. [It’s] the first step in attempting to get proposals about what they would propose to do for our system and for us is to qualify for bidders.”
A future step in the process would be drafting of an RFP (Request for Proposal) which would see what terms a utility might be willing to offer. Borough officials continue to commit to public input while the borough continues through each stage of the WIPA process and potential sale.
Down the line should borough officials achieve favorable terms with an interested party, the borough will have a referendum vote.
This summer, residents had gathered 222 petition signatures in time by an Aug. 5 deadline to force a referendum vote before any potential sale.
