CREATIVE SOLUTIONS FOR UNION COUNTY New shared services to help improve
recreation and cultural programs
Lively, healthy communities depend on a strong slate of outdoor activities and cultural events. Now more than ever, it’s important to preserve and improve our local parks and recreation programs.
To accomplish this, we will have to do more with less. One avenue worth exploring is to share more services between county and local governments.
This process is already well under way. Over the past two years, the Freeholder Board has conducted five working sessions to develop new shared service agreements. The response has been enthusiastic. Several school districts and all twenty-one municipalities have attended at least one workshop.
As a direct result, we reached new agreements in several key areas, especially in computer-related services provided through county offices. The savings to municipalities has already reached hundreds of thousands of dollars. We expect this figure to keep growing substantially.
The amount of money saved is only part of the story. By sharing resources, we also cut duplication among different levels of government. This provides local governments with more leeway to allocate staff and facilities.
County-local sharing is not a new thing. For example, our shared purchasing contracts have helped municipalities cut administrative costs while getting access to higher quality vendors. Our K-9 unit and other public safety programs offer valuable services to municipal police departments. And, our award-winning county high schools provide vocational and academic opportunities of the first rank.
Now we’re taking this traditional approach into new territory. The topic of our most recent shared services workshop was parks and recreation, including cultural events. The approximately 30 attendees brainstormed on ways to combine and share facilities, to improve local access to county resources, and to develop more shared county-local arts programs.
It’s an effort that will pay off in many ways. And for our youth, early exposure to cultural events has been linked to lifelong engagement in the arts, which in turn leads to better chances for academic and career success.
By pulling our resources together in new and innovative ways, we can ensure that public recreation and cultural events remain a strong and vital part of our civic landscape, in each of our 21 municipalities and throughout Union County.
GREEN IS A NATURAL FOR UNION COUNTY
By now, many Union County residents have heard of the Freeholder Board’s 2008 Go Green Initiative. We’re drawing on Union County’s experience in environmental programming to conserve more energy and natural resources, and keep more toxic chemicals out of the environment.
One of our best green resources is the Master Gardeners of Union County. This group of dedicated volunteers is trained by agricultural experts through the Rutgers Cooperative Extension. In turn they provide the public with free access to their knowledge and experience.
This wonderful volunteer service can go a long way toward helping you go green at home. With expert advice from the Master Gardeners, you can enjoy a yard that is less dependent on chemicals, and healthier for your family and for the environment.
If you come across a mysterious plant or insect, you don’t have to reach for herbicides or pesticides. The Master Gardeners can help you identify it, and recommend safe ways to keep it from overrunning your yard.
If you’re thinking of using a fertilizer, the Master Gardeners can help you order a convenient test from the Rutgers Soil Testing Laboratory. The test will help you use the right amount of fertilizer, so your yard can thrive without harm to plants and waterways.
The Master Gardeners can also help you choose hardy native plants for your yard. Because they grow healthfully without extra water or chemicals, native plants save money on utility bills, herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizer.
Converting vegetable scraps into compost is another budget-wise area in which the Master Gardeners offer expert advice. Kitchen compost is a free, all-natural soil booster that helps your plants grow without chemicals.
The Master Gardeners’ Demonstration Garden welcomes visitors. It is located by the Trailside Nature and Science Center in Union County’s Watchung Reservation, in Mountainside. Among its projects, the garden raises flowers and vegetables for donation to health care facilities and community food banks in Union County.
You can find out more about all of Union County’s environmental resources by visiting us at www.ucnj.org/greenconnect.
Working together, we are all on the road to cleaner, healthier communities.
PAUSE AND REMEMBER
Memorial Day weekend can often be a rush of activity. But whether your holiday is filled with parades, ceremonies, or get-togethers with family and friends, one thing is certain. On any day of the year, there is always time to pause and remember those who died in the service of our country.
Here in Union County, honoring that sacrifice takes many shapes. One traditional reminder is the decoration of veterans’ graves with thousands of flags, provided by the County to scouts, veterans groups, and other organizations. This remembrance continues through the month of May, leading up to Memorial Day.
Communities across Union County pitch in, and new help is always welcome. To participate, contact your local American Legion post or call the Union County Office of Veterans’ Affairs toll free at 866-640-7115, or at 908-527-4809. Voice messages are returned promptly.
There is another way to remember our war dead, and that is to support their brothers and sisters in arms. It is safe to say that every community in Union County has citizens, school groups and organizations taking time throughout the year to connect with our men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
From necessary items to small luxuries, packages are constantly making the long journey overseas. Every note or card makes that connection all the stronger.
Now more than ever, your support will be vitally appreciated. In a short time, 4,000 members of the New Jersey National Guard will begin deploying overseas. This is the largest mobilization of troops from our state since World War II.
At home, the need for community support still continues. Many of Union County’s returning veterans face new challenges in life. Especially at this time of year, our Office of Veterans’ Affairs is inundated with requests for help from veterans and their families.
I am proud that County residents support the work of this office. You can also help out by volunteering with or donating to other organizations that advocate for veterans in need of help, such as the Coalition for the Homeless.
Finally, remembrance can also mean a moment of private reflection. This is something that each of us can do, at any time and place.
Time stands still when you are alone with your thoughts. In an instant you can reach back through more than two hundred years of American history, and breathe a spark of life into all of those who died in the conflicts that have shaped our country.
Earth Day is Every Day in Union County
Union County residents are joining with people all across the country to celebrate Earth Day, and Arbor Day, too. It’s a fitting time to celebrate the many ways that we care for our environment all year round.
Open space preservation is a time-honored tradition in Union County. In the 1920’s, we were among the first counties in the United States to preserve natural areas by establishing a county park system. To this day, County residents have overwhelmingly supported adding more land to preserve and protect. We’ve added more than 300 acres in just the past seven years.
Keeping household chemicals out of the environment is another longstanding effort in Union County. Every year, many residents use our hazardous waste recycling programs to dispose of used batteries, aerosol cans, motor oil, oil-based paints, pesticides, solvents, home electronics and other products. You can find out more about hazardous waste recycling by contacting your town or visiting the County web site, www.ucnj.org/recycle.
Our popular Trailside Nature and Science Center in the Watchung Reservation has been a wonderful resource for County residents of all ages to enjoy learning about the delicate balance of nature. It was recently renovated and expanded, and we’ve also added a traveling eco-van to bring more environmental programming to schools.
This year, the Freeholder Board introduced the new Go Green initiative to step up the County’s environmental efforts and prepare the way for even more improvement in the future. The initiative includes conforming County construction and renovation projects to the highest LEED standards for green buildings, switching to more recycled paper, and distributing grants for environmental projects in schools.
Public outreach is also part of Go Green, and we’re starting off by conducting an environmental education event for County employees on Earth Day.
As a group, these programs add up to a strong platform for further action.
Individually, households throughout Union County have also been building their own platforms for action. For many of us, “going green” is a familiar, thrifty habit that just makes common sense. Trading yard tools with a neighbor, saving leftover food for another meal, or turning off lights in empty rooms are just a few examples.
By appreciating our mindful habits, and continuing to develop and improve upon them, we can all make every day a celebration of the earth on which we live.
COUNTY UNVEILS ECONOMIC AND WORKFORCE
COMPETITIVENESS PROJECT
About a decade ago, the Union County Freeholder Board commissioned a study which indicated the County had been experiencing high unemployment and lagged well behind in many other economic metrics.
The report served as impetus for the Freeholder Board to put together an economic development baseline report with Rutgers University that helped to bring our business, governmental and non-profit partners to the table and take action.
Since then, our achievements with our partners have been notable:
We rebuilt and expanded roadways.
We renovated train stations.
We dredged our seaport to improve the flow of shipping commerce.
We expanded our airport—one of the world’s busiest.
We built the state’s largest mall on the site of a former landfill.
We increased retail opportunities along Routes 1&9 and Route 22 throughout the County, and launched a grant program that helped revitalize our Downtowns.
In short, we revitalized and repositioned Union County as an employment and transportation hub and a development boom washed over the region. A diverse and stable economy is in place.
However, it is not enough to rest on past accomplishments, as economic and market conditions consistently change. Last year, as one of Freeholder Bette Jane Kowalski’s initiatives, we decided to bring our partners back at the table to survey our economic health and develop a plan to keep Union County thriving.
And it’s a good thing we did. Since we commissioned the study, the nation has since slipped into a recession, and the subprime crisis has crippled lending and credit markets, bringing the real estate industry to a screeching halt.
Union County recently unveiled the plan---the Union County Economic and Workforce Competitiveness Project—developed in consultation with the prestigious John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University.
This multi-phase plan assesses the current economic, educational and workforce barometers of the County, its resources, and makes recommendations for future growth in these areas.
As part of its findings, the report noted the County has successfully moved from declining “old economy” manufacturing sectors to a more diverse knowledge-based, advanced manufacturing economy such as pharmaceutical manufacturing, educational services and retail trade.
The report also identifies the County’s health care, transportation and warehousing, pharmaceutical and chemical manufacturing sectors as likely candidates for sustainable growth.
Based on these findings, the Union County Alliance will conduct roundtables to bring our partners together from all sectors---governmental, workforce, educational and non-profit---in an effort to sustain our new economy and implement an action plan that includes:
Supporting a transportation, logistics and distribution cluster by working with existing and new companies to developing business connections between these firms and other industries.
Developing a Countywide workforce plan to adopt to changing conditions and ensure all residents access to educational, and job training programs designed to meet the needs of Union County’s economy.
Supporting the Portfields Initiative by developing a trade-free zone, a cleanup plan and marketing initiatives.
The Portfields Initiative is a project of Union County, the Port Authority and the NJ Economic Development Authority. It is designed to support the port and airport, two of the region's primary economic drivers, with warehouse and distribution development on 17 identified brownfields or underutilized sites in Essex, Union and Middlesex counties. In Union County, the project involves six sites: the Wakefern property on Division Street, Greenfield Builders / North Avenue, Port Elizabeth Business Park, Elizabeth Bayway Area and Reichold Chemical (land in Elizabeth and Linden), Linden Airport and Tremley Point, also in Linden.
Union County’s central location, its road and transportation infrastructure, and its diverse workforce and business sectors serve as a strong draw for companies. According to a recent report by the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University, the total vacancy rate for the Central New Jersey office market, including Union County, dropped from 16.4 percent to 15.6 percent at the end of the third quarter. At 8.9 percent, Union County has the lowest vacancy rate in Central New Jersey.
Even with the region facing uncertain economic times, Union County can continue to thrive if it focuses on sustaining our strengths—which includes transportation, shipping, warehousing, pharmaceuticals, retail, and educational sectors---while maintaining our traditional manufacturing base. We look forward to implementing this action plan with the help of our many partners to ensure Union County’s best days are still ahead.
UNION COUNTY STEPS INTO THE FUTURE
Union County has always been a hub of movement and change, and this year will mark another transformation. As we continue to focus County resources on our core commitments to job development, public safety, and neighborhood quality of life, we are stepping into a new “green” era.
Communities across America are demonstrating that green means new opportunities for cutting costs and growing the local economy. With this in mind, a “Go Green” program is one of Union County’s five initiatives for 2008.
The County’s construction projects will conform to the highest LEED (Leadership in Environmental Engineering and Design) standards. These guidelines will cut energy, water and maintenance costs, enhance interior air quality, and help reduce our carbon footprint.
The County will use its communications resources, including our web site and Public Information Van, to help residents learn strategies for green homes, businesses, and workplaces. Saving money, feeling healthier, and helping to improve local air quality are just some of the benefits.
Schools are preparing youngsters to make good environmental choices, and the County will support their efforts with three measures: distributing grants based on student proposals for recycling and other school-based environmental projects, providing free recycling bins, and deploying the County Hazmat team to remove potentially dangerous chemicals.
In addition, the County will increase its use of recycled paper products. Manufacturing paper from virgin material is a notorious energy-gobbler, so switching to recycled products makes a big difference. The County print shop is a shared service and participating municipalities can use the recycled paper option, too.
Job development is the second initiative for 2008. The Workforce Competitiveness Project, now entering its third phase, will establish focus groups to identify areas of potential growth, and develop strategies for investing workforce resources in those areas.
The third 2008 initiative targets public safety concerns. The County will set up “First Alert,” an auto-contact service to inform residents by telephone and electronic devices about emergencies, special events, and other contingencies.
The fourth and fifth 2008 initiatives focus on our youth. Located in Plainfield and later in Elizabeth, Youth One Stop programs will provide complete job training, education, health and social services. And, the Union County Schoolyards Initiative will help fund outdoor classrooms that provide unique environments for hands-on learning.
In addition, the Kids Recreation Trust Fund will once again provide matching dollars to municipalities for playgrounds, recreation equipment, and athletic scholarships.
Taken together, our five 2008 initiatives are designed to strengthen our communities and support our economic prospects while building a safer, healthier environment for all. I am looking forward to working with you, with my colleagues on the Freeholder Board, and with the entire County family to accomplish this goal.
Union County Administration Building •
10 Elizabethtown Plaza • Elizabeth, New Jersey 07207
County Switchboard (908) 527-4000 •
Toll Free Information (877) 424-1234
