| South Bound Brook, New Jersey | |
|---|---|
| — Borough — | |
| Map of South Bound Brook in Somerset County. Inset: Location of Somerset County highlighted in the State of New Jersey. | |
| Census Bureau map of South Bound Brook, New Jersey | |
| Coordinates: | |
| Country | United States |
| State | New Jersey |
| County | Somerset |
| Incorporated | May 1, 1907 |
| Government[1] | |
| • Type | Borough (New Jersey) |
| • Mayor | Terry Warrelmann |
| • Administrator | Donald E. Kazar[2] |
| Area | |
| • Total | 0.8 sq mi (2.0 km2) |
| • Land | 0.8 sq mi (2.0 km2) |
| • Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
| Elevation | 52 ft (16 m) |
| Population (2010)[3] | |
| • Total | 4,563 |
| • Density | 5,703.8/sq mi (2,281.5/km2) |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| ZIP code | 08880 |
| Area code(s) | 732 |
| FIPS code | 34-68730[4][5] |
| GNIS feature ID | 0880707[6] |
| Website | Municipal web site |
South Bound Brook is a Borough in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2010 Census, the borough population was 4,563.[3]
What is now South Bound Brook was originally formed as a town within Franklin Township. On March 16, 1869, the name of the community was changed to Bloomington, which lasted until May 29, 1891, when the name reverted back to South Bound Brook town. South Bound Brook was incorporated as an independent borough by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 11, 1907, based on the results of a referendum held on May 1, 1907.[7]
Contents |
South Bound Brook is located at (40.553803, -74.529761).[8]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 0.8 square miles (2.1 km2), all of it land.
| Historical populations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1930 | 1,763 |
|
|
| 1940 | 1,928 | 9.4% | |
| 1950 | 2,905 | 50.7% | |
| 1960 | 3,626 | 24.8% | |
| 1970 | 4,525 | 24.8% | |
| 1980 | 4,331 | −4.3% | |
| 1990 | 4,185 | −3.4% | |
| 2000 | 4,492 | 7.3% | |
| 2010 | 4,563 | 1.6% | |
| Population 1930 - 1990.[9] | |||
As of the census[4] of 2000, there were 4,492 people, 1,632 households, and 1,103 families residing in the borough. The population density was 5,765.3 people per square mile (2,223.6/km2). There were 1,676 housing units at an average density of 2U.S. Census,151.1/sq mi (829.6/km2). The racial makeup of the borough was 78.01% White, 7.77% African American, 0.27% Native American, 4.10% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 6.57% from other races, and 3.25% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 22.89% of the population.
There were 1,632 households out of which 31.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.0% were married couples living together, 10.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.4% were non-families. 25.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.75 and the average family size was 3.31.
In the borough the population was spread out with 23.5% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 36.2% from 25 to 44, 21.1% from 45 to 64, and 10.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 105.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.4 males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $48,984, and the median income for a family was $58,214. Males had a median income of $36,955 versus $30,082 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $21,131. About 3.6% of families and 6.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.5% of those under age 18 and 10.1% of those age 65 or over.
South Bound Brook is governed under the Borough form of New Jersey municipal government. The government consists of a Mayor and a Borough Council comprising six council members, with all positions elected at large. A Mayor is elected directly by the voters to a four-year term of office. The Borough Council consists of six members elected to serve three-year terms on a staggered basis, with two seats coming up for election each year.[1]
The Mayor of South Bound Brook is Terry Warrelmann. Members of the Borough Council are Council President Dennis Quinlan, Kathleen Conner, Michele Duh, Peter Dykes, Tamas (Tom) Ormosi and Caryl Shoffner.[10]
In 2005, Republican Mayor Jo-Anne Shubert resigned as Mayor of South Bound Brook a week before admitting that she gave a $35,000 no-bid computer contract to a company owned by her brother and where she was employed as an office manager.[11]
In 2010 and 2011, Republican Mayor Terry Warrelmann, was involved in a controversy involving his family and the Borough’s refusal to release police reports surrounding the incident. On July 9, 2010, John Paff, filed a lawsuit seeking the release of the documents.[12] On December 17, 2010, New Jersey Superior Court Assignment Judge Yolanda Ciccone, sitting in Somerville, New Jersey, conducted a hearing on Paff's lawsuit. On March 31, 2011, Paff received a 79-page file containing the redacted versions of documents within that investigative file. The records show that Mayor Warrelmann, along with his son Stephen, Nancy Santora and an unidentified juvenile, were suspects in an investigation of a November 21, 2009 burglary of a shed at 60 Elizabeth Street, South Bound Brook. No charges, however, were brought against any of the suspects.
South Bound Brook is in the Seventh Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 16th state legislative district.[13]
New Jersey's Seventh Congressional District is represented by Leonard Lance (R, Clinton Township). New Jersey is represented in the United States Senate by Frank Lautenberg (D, Cliffside Park) and Bob Menendez (D, Hoboken).
16th Legislative District of the New Jersey Legislature, which is represented in the New Jersey Senate by Christopher "Kip" Bateman (R, Neshanic Station) and in the New Jersey General Assembly by Peter J. Biondi (R, Hillsborough Township) and Denise Coyle (R, Basking Ridge).[14] The Governor of New Jersey is Chris Christie (R, Mendham).[15] The Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey is Kim Guadagno (R, Monmouth Beach).[16]
Somerset County is governed by a five-member Board of Chosen Freeholders, whose members are elected at-large to three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with one or two seats coming up for election each year.[17] As of 2011, Somerset County's Freeholders are Freeholder Director Robert Zaborowski (Franklin Township, term ends December 31, 2011)[18], Freeholder Deputy Director Patricia L. Walsh (Green Brook Township, 2013)[19], Jack Ciattarelli (Hillsborough Township, 2012)[20], Peter S. Palmer (Bernardsville, 2011)[21] and Patrick Scaglione (Bridgewater Township, 2012).[22][23]
The South Bound Brook School District serves public school students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. Robert Morris School, named after Robert Morris, a financier of the American Revolution, had an enrollment of 425 students as of the 2008-09 school year.[24]
For grades 9-12, public school students attend Bound Brook High School in Bound Brook, as part of a sending/receiving relationship with the Bound Brook School District.[25]
The South Bound Brook Police Department is a 13 person department consisting of one Chief, one Lieutenant, two Sergeants, one K9 officer, and eight officers on patrol. The Chief is William King. The Police Department does not have their own dispatchers; South Bound Brook currently uses Somerset County Communications for all 9-1-1 and non-emergency calls.
The South Bound Brook Fire Department has been in existence for over 100 years. They currently have four pieces of apparatus at their Edgewood Terrace Headquarters: One E-One Engine, one E-One 75-foot ladder, a new Seagrave Rescue/Pumper and one Chevy Suburban for a Chief's vehicle. Their Chief is currently Michael Tomaro Jr.
The South Bound Brook First Aid Squad has seen many changes over the past several years. The squad was initially incorporated by their current name, then in 1990 became South Bound Brook/Franklin Township Rescue Squad. In 2002 the service area was cut back to just South Bound Brook, and the squad's name reverted to South Bound Brook First Aid Squad. They currently run two ambulances from their Garfield Ave headquarters, two Ford Type III Ambulances. They are no longer capable of rescue; all water rescue and extrication equipment was sold after the 2002 change. The Chief of the South Bound Brook First Aid Squad is Richard Ungerleider. The squad responds to calls for EMS service on nights and weekends. Somerset Medical Center EMS Units take calls in South Bound Brook during the workday due to lack of volunteer personnel available.
The South Bound Brook Office of Emergency Management is a growing department of two personnel. Originally the Civil Defense Board, and then briefly called Disaster Control in the 1990s, the Office of Emergency Management is charged with Emergency Preparedness and Planning. They are also responsible for the emergency operations plan, which is updated yearly by all departments of the borough. During major emergencies, they play a significant role in recovery efforts. They are also charged with borough compliance in the National Incident Management System. Their coordinator is Paul Kaminsky.
Originally part of Franklin Township and named Bloomington, South Bound Brook was incorporated as a borough by the New Jersey Legislature in 1907.
The area was originally a Dutch community with apple orchards and just west peach orchards. The Abraham Staats House (c. 1740), located on the south side of Main Street, served as the headquarters of Baron Von Steuben during the American Revolutionary War.,[26] The house today is privately owned.
During the American Revolution, the Queens Bridge was used by both the American and British forces. At this spot in what is now known as Boundbrook on January 4, 1777, General Washington made the decision to abandon any intention to attack New Brunswick. Instead he moved his troops to Morristown for the winter, thus ending the victorious Trenton-Princeton campaign.
At dawn on April 13, 1777, Hessian Captain Ewald's assault over the Queens Bridge spanning the Raritan River between South Boundbrook and Boundbrook was pinned down by "murderous fire" from the American soldiers stationed at half moon battery. Advancing North along present day Easton Avenue, Hessian Colonel Donop pushed aside American outposts and arrived 15 minutes after Ewald's attack had faltered. Advancing over the Queens Bridge, Donop's troops engaged the Americans causing them to retreat from the battery. Donop, Ewald's, and General Grant's troops pursued the American troops as they fought through the streets of Bound Brook.[27]
The Reformed Church, also on Main Street (near borough hall) was built in 1848 and has been declared a local historical site by the borough council. Originally called the Dutch Reformed Church of Bound Brook, it has gone through very few changes over the years. The one sad removal was a pipe organ received from Andrew Carnegie; and the stained glass windows, which had been added well after the original construction. The Reverend Thomas DeWitt Talmadge was a member and preached at the church. His home was in the Middlebush section of Franklin Township, not Bound Brook as listed on the Bound Brook site.
In the mid-1970s a teen from the town created a plan for an environmental commission and presented it to the council. James Manley (Bound Brook High, Class of '75) got his commission and the first order of business was to find out what the white piles of waste on the tow path between the Delaware and Raritan Canal and Raritan River consisted of. It turned out to be 17% crystal asbestos by volume. Since there was no New Jersey State regulation for the disposal, this became a landmark case. The waste was hauled in dump trucks through Bound Brook to the floodplain south of West Main Street and dumped. A trail of asbestos dust led from the old dump site to the new dump location.
The main downtown street in South Bound Brook, known as Main Street, has been refurbished with new sidewalks, lighting, signage and a number of newly renovated stores.
A roofing material manufacturing facility known as GAF Manufacturing was located in South Bound Brook for over a century along Main Street. The site was dormant for about two decades and sat as an eyesore and reminder of the town's industrial past. New townhomes have been built on the GAF Manufacturing site, along the Delaware and Raritan Canal, which provide the downtown area a new modern look and many new residents.
Part of the redevelopment is being held up by a lawsuit by John Fanaro of Fanaro Carpeting over the right of eminent domain, as the town tries to seize property along Main Street that is in front of the new townhomes. The redevelopment plan called for the older stores to be razed and replaced with new stores that had parking in back and a dozen rental apartments on the second floor.
A new 55-and-older condominium development is also being built along Elizabeth Street in the central part of town but is currently a defunct project as the builder has gone bankrupt.
The main attraction in South Bound Brook is the Delaware and Raritan Canal, which forms the northern and eastern boundaries of the town. The canal and its D&R Canal Trail are used for numerous recreational purposes from light boating to hiking and biking. Also of note is the Raritan River which lies on the far side of the canal and provides further recreational opportunities such as boating and fishing. The Queens Bridge crosses the canal and river, connecting to Bound Brook.
The Raritan River Greenway is a proposed path that would link Branchburg Township to the East Coast Greenway with the Delaware and Raritan Canal trail in South Bound Brook.
Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA is headquartered in South Bound Brook. St. Sophia Ukrainian Orthodox Theological Seminary, St. Andrew's Memorial Church, and a large Ukrainian Orthodox cemetery right behind the church, where graves of many politicians from the Ukrainian People's Republic era can be visited, are located on the south side of the town.[28]
While South Bound Brook does not have the legacy of flooding that its sister town Bound Brook on the north bank of the Raritan River has, flooding can be a problem in South Bound Brook during major river flooding events, such as a 100-year flood event. In September 1999, the remnants of Hurricane Floyd caused a record flood crest on the Raritan River. While escaping the worst flooding, due to its elevated perch above the Raritan River, South Bound Brook did experience flood waters in the two- to three-foot range near the canal, including in portions of the downtown area along Main Street.
Interstate 287, which provides access and connections to large parts of New Jersey and New York is located very near the western boundary of South Bound Brook and provides two local interchanges.
New Jersey Transit provides frequent train service on the Raritan Valley Line to/from Newark and New York via the nearby Bound Brook Train Station, which is about a five to ten minute walk from downtown South Bound Brook.
NJ Transit bus service to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan is provided on the 114 and 117 routes, with service to Newark available on the 65 bus line.[29]
Notable current and former residents of South Bound Brook include:
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