2025 Year-in-Review: A Message from South Brunswick Mayor Charlie Carley
Dear Friends and Neighbors:
As we close the book on 2025, I am proud to report that this has been a year of continued investment and significant progress for South Brunswick Township. Working alongside my colleagues on the Township Council—Archana Grover, Jo Hochman, Ken Bierman, and Patty Germain—we have advanced major initiatives that span infrastructure modernization, community health, and environmental stewardship.
Investing in Our Foundation
Our commitment to maintaining South Brunswick’s infrastructure remains a top priority. In 2025, we saw the full completion of neighborhood improvements in Timber Ponds and the conclusion of major work on New Road. We also made significant strides in Kendall Park, where many roadways were repaved this year, with more scheduled for 2026. We continue our work in the Fresh Impressions neighborhood and have awarded contracts for the 2026 start-of-work in the Wetherill neighborhood. Many other roadway projects have been set in motion for the 2026 construction season.
Safety on our roads is paramount. This year, with County government leadership, we fully installed and activated the new traffic signal at Finnegans Lane and Kory Drive, improving flow and safety along that high-volume corridor. We reconfigured the intersection of Fresh Ponds Road with Route 130 with new signalization. With the PSE&G Direct Install Program, we upgraded streetlights along Route 522 at no cost to our taxpayers.
Fiscal Stewardship & Grant Success
We continue to work hard to bring your tax dollars back to South Brunswick. This year, the Township secured millions in grant funding to offset costs for vital services. Highlights include over $203,000 from the NJ Recycling Tonnage Grant and more than $113,000 from the Clean Communities Grant for litter abatement. We also secured substantial funding for future improvements, including $750,000 for Richard Road Phase 2 and $430,000 for ADA playground upgrades at Reichler Park. We will continue to work to gain funding for improvements to our town.
Safety & Community Strength
Our Police Department continues to set the standard for excellence, maintaining accreditation from both CALEA and the NJ State Association of Chiefs of Police. I am especially proud to announce that for our National Night Out event, South Brunswick was ranked 1st in New Jersey and 5th in the nation.
We also celebrated our status as a "Healthy Town," a designation awarded to us by the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute. This spirit of health and connection is visible in our new Senior Pickleball Program and the incredible generosity shown during the Diwali Community Food Drive, which collected over 5,000 pounds of food for our pantry.
Honoring Our Heroes
We must never forget those who served. In 2025, we had the distinct honor of dedicating streets to veterans who fought nobly to shape our world, including Murray Tuckman, Robert L. Kelly, Roy E. Menghi, the Errickson Family, Fred M. Benjamin, Alex and Alexander John Kish, Philip Joseph O’Brien, Louis E. Pietrefesa, Charles G. Weber Sr., and Lt. John W. Farnkopf.
A Look Toward the Future
While we celebrate these achievements, we must also acknowledge the road ahead. Our Township continues to navigate the pressures of court-mandated development—a complex challenge that requires us to be vigilant in preserving the suburban character and quality of life that drew us all here. We are managing this growth to the best of our abilities, ensuring that South Brunswick remains a place we are proud to call home.
We recognize that a healthy community includes strong schools. We stand firmly with our students, educators, and families, recognizing that supporting our public-schools community is essential to our shared success.
We also recognize the deep sacrifices of the volunteers in our fire departments and first aid squads. These citizens are the epitome of civic virtue. Where municipal government can help these agencies in the execution of their respective missions, we will.
The accomplishments of 2025 prove that when we work together, we succeed. With projects like the Library expansion nearing completion, new investments in our infrastructure underway, and strengthening partnerships - I am confident that South Brunswick will remain a place we are all proud to call home
I wish you and your family every good thing for the upcoming year; health, peace, and happiness foremost.
Happy New Year,
Mayor Charlie Carley
