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Hunterdon County adopts funding ordinances, approves grants and key appointments
Summary
The county commissioners on Dec. 2 adopted multiple ordinances — including supplemental funding for an emergency services training center and a property purchase — approved grants and requisitions, and confirmed appointments to a new Improvement Authority.
The Hunterdon County Board of Commissioners adopted several ordinances and resolutions on Dec. 2, approving funding for county capital needs, historic‑preservation grants and a slate of initial appointments to a new county improvement authority.
Board members unanimously adopted bond ordinance 2025‑19 to provide supplemental funding for completion of the county’s emergency services training center after a public hearing with no members of the public speaking. The board also adopted capital ordinance 2025‑20 authorizing purchase of a parcel designated Lot 14, Block 43 in the Township of Briar.
In other fiscal actions the board approved a budget transfer allowable under NJSA 40A:4‑58 that moves $200,000 from the gasoline utilities line to electric utilities to address anticipated deficits late in the fiscal year. Finance staff said the transfers are intended to prevent end‑of‑year budget shortfalls.
Health‑department ordinances were adopted as well. The board approved ordinance 2025‑03, which establishes county procedures to recover hazardous‑materials emergency‑response costs and aligns definitions with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection model ordinance. Commissioners also adopted ordinance 2025‑21, which updates county environmental‑health service fees and adds a new annual permit set at $100 for mobile food vendors; the ordinance is scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, 2026.
The commissioners approved multiple requisitions and purchases: snowplows (requisition R25‑7295, not to exceed $119,382.06), data‑transfer services (not to exceed $65,000), furniture for the North Branch County Library ($103,854.12) and firefighting foam (requisition R25‑6719, not to exceed $126,207.50). Motions to approve each were carried by roll call.
The board reappointed Andrew Bernath as chief financial officer for a three‑year term beginning Jan. 1, 2026, and confirmed five initial members of the newly created Hunterdon County Improvement Authority — Kevin Davis, Gary Hazard, Robert T. McNally, Howard Jack Updike and Beth Gates — to begin implementation of a shared‑pool lending program in 2026.
A set of municipal and historic preservation grants also passed. These included municipal support for the Polish Shepherd Memorial Park in Lebanon Borough ($86,685.31), funding toward the Devore Farm bank barn restoration (awards and matching funds referenced), acquisition funding for a Stavola property (not to exceed $354,000) and a Tewksbury Township Public Library preservation grant (not to exceed $90,000). County and nonprofit representatives described these as part of ongoing local conservation and restoration efforts.
The meeting packet and minutes list roll‑call approvals for each item; where roll‑call tallies were recorded in the meeting, motions passed unanimously.
