Mayor's Address

2025 MAYORS ANNUAL ADDRESS

Good evening everyone and Happy New Year.  I am so grateful to be the Mayor of this great community. Each year seems to bring more good fortune to our community and 2025 was no exception.

People move to Mountainside and continue to live here for long periods of time for a variety of reason; low taxes which remain stable, high property values which continue to rise, a high level of services that our residents expect and deserve, recreation programs for residents of all ages, maintenance and improvements of our infrastructural maintenance, and of course the small town way of life that we are so proud of.

I have always fought to maintain the quality of life that makes Mountainside the attractive and affordable community that it is, and I will continue to do so. One of the ways Mountainside remains affordable is that we will continue to vigorously apply for grants. In 2025 we received $967,458 in grants. We’ve already been approved for an additional $310,201 worth of grants for 2026 and we will pursue more. These grants will help cover the costs of maintaining our infrastructure, our roads and our sewer system, to help make improvements to our facilities and to enhance and expand the services we provide to our residents.

The Borough is in the process of awarding bids to resurface the Pickleball  / Tennis Courts at both Borough Hall and Deerfield School which will begin when the weather permits which is partially funded with a grant.

Some of the grants were obtained through our Senior Citizen Coordinator we received grants from the Union County Community Block Grant to support both Senior Services and the Transportation program, and received a grant from Union County for Municipal Alliance for incorporating strategies in the schools and the community that address underage drug and alcohol awareness. Our Senior Citizen Coordinators also continue to coordinate our all volunteer Senior Buddy Meal Program which provides low cost meals from local restaurants to our Seniors. To date, 46,573 meals have been delivered with an economic impact of $509,760.

This past year we completed paving improvements including curb construction, drainage improvement, driveway repairs, road repairs, milling, and paving of Friar Lane, Justin Place, Kings Court, curbing on Fawn Ridge, Hawk Ridge, and Timberline Road. In connection with Elizabeth town Gas Main Replacement Program, the following roads were also paved, Beechwood Court, Force Drive, Highwood Road, Long Medow, Meeting House Lane,  Pembrook Road, Wood Acres Drive, Laurel Court, Coles Ave, Ackerman Ave. Lastly, in connection with New Jersey American Water Company Water Main Replacement Program, the following roads were also paved, Timberline Court, Timberline Road, and Wood Valley Road Section.  The water company is also committed to pave sections of Wood Valley, Indian Trail and Garret Road once the water main replacement is completed and weather permits.

We also continue to participate in multiple shared services that keep our taxes under control, including the Joint Insurance Fund, Westfield Board of Health, Flu Clinics, UC Public Assistance, UC First Alert, UC DPW Equipment and Truck Loan Program, Emergency Services Mutual Aid Program, which includes Police, Fire, and Rescue along with shared services with Clark for Mountainside TV and with Scotch Plains for fire safety.  We have also entered into a shared Service Agreement with the Board of Education to provide 2 full time Police officers to help enhance the security of our children, teachers, and staff at Deerfield and Beachwood Schools.  We also provide snow plowing services to the Board of Education. These cost savings and grants enable us to better serve our residents and boost our quality of life with a variety of recreational programs and infrastructure enhancements. For example, the Recreation Department has expanded upon existing programs for children, adults, and seniors to include Mini Pumpkin Painting and Pizza, Chess Camp, Play in Nature, DIY Spa Essentials – Christmas Edition, Musical Theater Class, Robotics, Yoga for Adults, Revived Kids Triathlon, USA Sports Spring NFL Football Clinics, USA Sports Spring Soccer Clinics, Fall Monday Beginner Pickleball, and Kids 3rd – 5th Grade Spring Tennis Clinic Session 2. The Rec. Department continues to work with our Senior Citizen Coordinator to provide programming for our Seniors including health and fitness classes, game nights, technology workshops, bingo and craft events. A new addition is the Connecting Generations Programs which connect children and Seniors which include Tear Party and Bingo, Fairy Light Bottle Painting, Bouquet Making, and Pool Party which was funded by a grant from the Watts Foundation.

However, the true essence of why Mountainside is such a great community is “Our Volunteers”. Volunteers are the fabric of small town living and the back bone of our community. We have a great Volunteer Fire Department as well as Volunteer Rescue Squad. Through their leadership, both organizations have been able to recruit new members, especially young members, allowing both organizations to respond quickly and effectively when emergencies arise. They continue to spend countless hours in training, preparing, and maintaining equipment to keep Mountainside safe.

Our Volunteer Rescue Squad volunteered over 17,600 hours and responded to 889 calls. Each response represents a moment when our EMT’s showed up to provide care, calm fears, and ensure public safety when it matters most. The Mountainside Volunteer Fire Department responded to 357 calls and has also volunteered over 5000 hours answering calls and participating in special assignments in protecting the Mountainside Community.

The members of both organizations have missed holidays, birthdays, and normal dinners with families and friends; all to ensure the safety of all our residents. I thank both organizations, they are fabulous. However, even though they have done a great job in recruiting this doesn’t mean they don’t need more volunteers. If anyone is interested in volunteering they should contact the Fire Department and Rescue Squad or Borough Hall. We also have a number of volunteer organizations: Mountainside Youth Baseball and Softball, Mountainside PAL, VFW, Lions Club, Rotary Club, Friends of the Library, Mountainside Beautiful and the Elks. We have Daisy, Girl Scouts, Brownies, Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, and Eagle Scouts. These are all excellent volunteer organizations that help to provide numerous additional programs for our children and adults (including seniors), and I encourage all who can volunteer for these incredibly important organizations to volunteer.

Together with our residents we have celebrated many outstanding community events in 2025 which include the Annual Baseball and Softball Parade, Memorial Day Celebration and Parade, the Annual 4th of July Fireworks, Tree Lighting and various activities at the Hetfield House and Levi Cory House and the Menorah Lighting.  All of these events just enhance the small town suburban way of Mountainside.

As I am sure you have seen, the new wall on the corner of Mountain Ave and New Providence Road have the lighted Mountainside sign. The corner has also been landscaped by Beautiful Mountainside. This wall is the first step in developing this corner property into a passive park for all of our residents to enjoy. We will be displaying a conceptual plan as well as detailed plans for this park at the February 24, 2026 planning Board meeting. Any residents who want to express their input into this project are welcome to attend the meeting.  

The Borough has completed the construction of the new DPW facility on Route 22. This building won the New Jersey Chapter of American Public Works Association 2025 Public Work Project of the Year. Great job by our director of Public Works Matt Deanna and all the Borough Staff that was involved in this project.

Mountainside is a gem. I am proud to serve as the Mayor of Mountainside. I will pledge to maintain the quality of life in Mountainside and our long standing record of making sure decisions about the challenges that we face in Mountainside are always in the best interest of Mountainside. We must always strive to keep Mountainside the great community we all love.

Happy New Year to everyone, god bless Mountainside, and god bless you all.