Raritan Borough Holds Annual Reorganization Meeting; Swore in New Mayor Nicolas Carra.

By Emma Uk

RARITAN, NJ - The Raritan Borough Council swore in Mayor Nicolas J. Carra and councilmen Don Tozzi, Michael Patente and Umesh Agrawal at the annual reorganization meeting Jan. 2. Vowing to do more for residents and businesses, the council selected Tozzi as council president and voted in Agrawal to fill the vacant council seat left behind by Carra after his swearing in as mayor. Agrawal was one of three nominees for Carra's former council seat. 

When a board has a vacancy, the political party whose seat becomes vacant selects three names to present to the board for consideration. After Carra officially resigned from his seat on Dec. 31, 2023, the local Republican Municipal Committee submitted three names to the council as potential replacements: John Murphy, Kenneth DiGraziano and Agrawal.

Carra said that between Dec. 26, 2023, and the reorganization meeting Jan. 2, new and current council members considered the three nominees, hoping to select someone by the reorganization meeting so all council members could celebrate together. Melitsky made a motion for Agrawal. Tozzi seconded the motion, leading to a unanimous vote for Agrawal.

Agrawal had previously run in November for the one seat on the Bridgewater-Raritan Regional Board of Education representing Raritan Borough, but lost to incumbent Michael Pepe. Agrawal assured residents that he would take action for the betterment of the borough and to foster an inclusive and transparent government that values the voices of all residents. "I will always be available whenever you need me," he said. "I'm committed to holding myself accountable. I encourage each and every one of you to actively share your ideas. Your input is vital. And I'm here to serve you."

“I worked with Umesh Agrawal on one of his campaigns,” added Melitsky. “And I’m really proud to have him on the council with us. And I know that under the direction of our new Mayor Nick Carra – congratulations – we’re going to have a great year.” Carra said the margin of victory in the elections was greater than he expected. "The data showed my running mates and I won over 85% of the independent vote,” he said. “I think it provides myself and the governing body with the mandate to do exactly what we campaigned on."

Tozzi said one central campaign point was to "take action,” since doing the best for Raritan requires taking action where needed. "We care about the town, not about our parties or where we're from," he said. "We want to make Raritan the best it could be, like we were on target to do years ago." Patente agreed that parties don't matter, and said the borough has struggled with budgeting, so he plans to do what he can to help and keep taxes down. 

"I'm going to do my best to work for the town of Raritan, everybody, Democrats, Republicans, independents, whatever, so that we can have the town I had when I grew up in this town," he said.

"We have a very aggressive agenda of things to do this year. And I'm excited to get started on all of them." Some of those agenda items are to secure more grants, invest more in borough parks, improve pedestrian safety and establish a new Redevelopment Advisory Committee and standing committee, Downtown Development. In 2023, the borough had increased grant use, which allowed the borough to undertake large drainage improvement projects, such as the $350,000 project to improve flooding during heavy rain events on Richard Street, Columbus Avenue and Riverside Avenue. The borough created a new expansion plan for the town, which included purchasing the former PNC Bank on Somerset Street through a $2.2 million congressional grant, an initiative led by Carra and supported by Congressman Tom Kean, Jr.  The PNC property will include a community room and a meeting room, and has already created 40 additional parking spots for residents and visitors to utilize when visiting Raritan's small businesses downtown. “Even smaller projects can be funded by grants that have a large impact," said Carra, adding that grant use will only get more aggressive.

Carra said he hopes to create a museum at the old Raritan Firehouse on Anderson Street for the Historic and Cultural Committee to display artifacts. One important step the borough plans to take to get more grants is hiring a grant writer so the borough doesn't pass the cost on to the taxpayers, he said. In addition, Carra said, he would like to finalize and adopt the recreation strategic master plan. After rebuilding the Frelinghuysen Park basketball court and funding repairs for the tennis court in 2023, Carra said, the borough will continue focusing on completing the repairs, building several pickleball courts and funding a splash pad through the Open Space Advisory Committee Grant from Somerset County.

But the biggest recreation project is overhauling Washington School Park. Carra said the town has underutilized the park since the school was demolished in 2017. “More on this to come in March, so please stay tuned as community involvement will play a big role in this project,” he said.

For downtown improvement and development, Carra would like the new standing committee, Downtown Development, to research what the borough can do to continue developing downtown and promoting economic growth. "I'd also like to see this committee continue the work done by the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority on their Sustainable Economic Development Plan," Carra said.

The borough had sought assistance in creating a Sustainable Economic Development Plan to help maintain and expand employment and economic activity downtown, resulting in the Downtown Raritan Vision Plan, Downtown Redevelopment Plan and Implementation Toolbox. The vision plan is a 10-year economic land use and multi-modal vision for downtown Raritan, calling for inclusive public spaces that welcome people of all ages and abilities and strengthen the borough's relationship with existing and future businesses.

Carra said the redevelopment plan provides the regulatory framework to implement many of the vision's plans and recommendations. The implementation toolbox will help guide the borough in implementing the vision plan, including specific action items and steps.

The new Redevelopment Advisory Committee will evaluate potential redevelopment projects pending in the borough. But Carra said he also wants the committee to assess previous redevelopment determinations to ensure they align with the borough's vision and character, are sustainable for long-term economic growth and don't significantly impact municipal services and systems.

Carra said the council would designate Somerset Street from the Basilone statue and the post office as redevelopment zones, and look into side streets like Anderson Street, Thompson Street and Nevius Street. “Also, the north side of Orlando Drive needs to be reconsidered, possibly, as an area to foster some greenways,” he said. “I still believe the riverfront should be a greenway where possible.”

The Somerset County Green Acres program can help the borough create greenways, Carra said, and the borough continues to purchase and demolish buildings on Orlando Drive to make a continuous greenway from Route 206. "This also aligns with the redevelopment plan conducted by the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority," said Carra. "This will create a distinctive downtown for Raritan from our train station to Somerset Street, and along the river." Several other initiatives are on Carra's radar, including a social services day for borough residents to see which type of assistance from nonprofit and government agencies they're eligible for; an investigation into a new two-family tax classification since tax assessments indicate that two- and one-family homes have nearly the same assessed value despite the different impacts they have on municipal services; and to improve pedestrian safety.

“We will continue to work with our partners in the county and the state to make all roadways with heavy pedestrian traffic 25 miles per hour,” Carra said. Throughout the year, he said, he will ask the council to explore potential roads and intersections that may need to be designated as one-way streets or to prohibit dangerous left-hand turns.