The evening began with Lisa Rodgers, and Rajesh Soni taking the oath of office.

Patch Staff

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — The South Brunswick Board of Education held its reorganization meeting last week, electing a new president and vice president.

Two board members — Lisa Rodgers, and Rajesh Soni — who were voted into office in November, took their oaths of office. Deepa Karthik, who was not present on Jan. 9, will take her oath at the next board meeting.

BOE member Smitha Raj nominated Laura Hernandez for president saying she was a diligent member who was on top of all communications and training. “She’s a proven leader, has been in the field of education for the past 25 years serving in many capacities,” Raj said.

Hernandez was elected by seven votes, with two members — Julie Ferrara and Karthik — being absent.

Although absent, Karthik was nominated for the role of vice president by Mike Mitchell. She was elected to the role unanimously. Karthik will not take her seat until she reads her oath of office, Business Administrator David Pawlowski said.

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Hernandez received her BA in Elementary Education and American Studies from Rider University. She then worked as an elementary school teacher, followed by a middle school teacher for 12 years.

She then received her MA in Educational Administration from Rider and served in Randolph School District as principal, vice-principal, director of testing and assessment, and supervisor of World Language and ESL.

Hernandez worked for Rutgers University in Newark supervising student teachers who were obtaining their teaching certificates in Social Studies. She then worked at Thomas Edison State University where she trained teachers on the issues of diversity.

She is currently employed at Trenton Board of Education.

Karthik is a Program Manager at a pharma company. She is an active community volunteer with two children in the school district.

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With the popularity of meal delivery apps like DoorDash and Uber Eats, and meal kit delivery companies like Blue Apron and HelloFresh, it’s obvious we’re looking for a quicker way to get dinner on the table.

One cooking machine company new to the U.S., based in the Kendall Park section of South Brunswick, is making it easier than ever – no delivery required.

RoboSousChef manufactures two automated cooking machines that can cook five pounds of food in 3-5 minutes or 55 pounds of food in 10 minutes.

The touch-screen machines are sleek, self-cleaning, odorless, grease-free and are designed to withstand daily use for 10-15 years. Since they're ventless, they can be placed anywhere.

“The best solution to health truly is good food − it’s not a pill,” said Princeton resident Aamir Shakir, CEO of Soyea USA, which manufactures RoboSousChef machines. “Cook with good things, serve the right portions and feed yourself to health. These machines have the ability to do that.”

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But it'll cost you. RoboSousChef's smaller model, the Cheetah, fits within the same sized space as a dishwasher and costs $40,000. The larger model, called the Panda, is $90,000.

The Panda is ideal for catering/restaurant use, while the Cheetah is ideal for residential or catering/restaurant use. An even smaller model more ideal for residential use, with a price around $10,000, will be launched next year.

Shakir said the types of companies who have shown interest in these products are cruise lines, retirement communities, stadiums, resorts and casinos.

Potential customers can see the machines, launched in China at the beginning of the century, in action at RoboSousChef’s showroom in the Kendall Park section of South Brunswick. Other showrooms are across the United States and the world.

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However, there won’t be much to see, as the cooking process is as simple as it gets.

The machines have food trays with sections labeled A, B and C – one section for meat, another for vegetables, etc. Liquid ingredients can be added to the machines in another area. All you have to do is put the ingredients in their respective trays and press “start.”

Recipe steps are saved into the machine so they can be repeated seamlessly, so no training is required, for example, at a restaurant when a new line cook is hired. Small changes – like making something saltier or spicier − can be added on-the-fly.

Unlike an appliance such as an instapot, the machines don’t dump all the ingredients in at once. They will, for example, in an Asian stir fry dish, start stir-frying a meat, then add vegetables, then add soy sauce. That makes it so stir-frying, which requires the most hands-on work in a pan on the stove, isn’t hands-on.

“This handles the most difficult style of cooking,” said Shakir. “If you have a party, this is the last type of food you would want at your party because you would have to prepare it as the guests are arriving. But with these machines, it’s simple.”

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That means dishes such as beef and broccoli, lo mein, fried rice, curries and pad Thai can be cooked with ease. Besides Asian dishes, the machines are also great for cooking Italian, French and other cuisines, as well as jams and gravies, Shakir said.

“Anything you put in a pot and cook yourself, you can replicate with this,” he continued.

It makes life easier for line cooks, who have notoriously difficult, stressful and underappreciated jobs. The machines offer a quality control that doesn’t exist with high-turnover line cook gigs.

“When you go to places that have big menus, constant turnover makes it impossible for food to be standard quality,” Shakir said. “One Panda Express might have 3.5 stars and another might have 2.1 stars. What’s the difference? The cooks.”

Learn more: 3530 Route 27, Kendall Park section of South Brunswick; 908-866-8056, robosouschef.com.

Contact: JIntersimone@MyCentralJersey.com

Jenna Intersimone has been a staff member at the USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey since 2014, although she's a lifetime Jersey girl who considers herself an expert in everything from the Jersey Shore to the Garden State's buzzing downtowns. To get unlimited access to her stories about food, drink and fun, please subscribe or activate your digital account today. You can also follow her on Instagram at @seejennaeat and on Twitter at @JIntersimone.

According to a citizen's awareness group, the warehouse would increase truck traffic and pose a risk to road safety and the environment.

Patch Staff

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — A group of South Brunswick residents are opposing a proposed warehouse that’s expected to be built along Ridge Road and Perrine Road. The area considered under the redevelopment plan comprises around 176 acres of land.

South Brunswick Planning Board will hear an application for a revised redevelopment plan on Wednesday. Initially, the property was included in the Affordable Housing Plan to be rezoned for inclusionary development of 1,320 residential units, including 264 affordable housing units.

But in 2022, the developer, Ridge Road Properties, and the township agreed to switch to building warehouses instead.

According to the agreement, the township would create a redevelopment overlay zone to allow for the construction of not more than 2,700,000 square feet of industrial warehouse or distribution center.

A fairness hearing was held on Dec. 16, 2024, in which the judge ruled in favor of the agreement between the township and Ridge Road Properties. The agreement also includes an $8 million contribution by the developer to the township's Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

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The community is protesting the warehouse plan due to its proximity to South Brunswick High School and concerns about pollution. With a warehouse in the vicinity, truck traffic will increase which would lead to noxious fumes affecting residents living in the area.

Residents from the neighborhood have created a citizen's awareness group and are trying to get the township not to build the warehouse so close to residential properties.

“It’s unfortunate what’s happening. This is going to affect the children and residents who live in the neighborhood. They will be inhaling noxious gases from tractor-trailer traffic to the warehouse. It's literally down the road from us,” said Tarun Patel, a resident and member of the group.

The group said they have been fighting this for the past few years but to no avail. They even tried to hire an attorney, but finances proved to be an issue.

“We are very small people, trying to take on a big developer. And we are failing,” said another member of the group, who did not wish to be named. “We are trying to drum up support from the community and motivate them to speak up, but that’s not working either.”

According to members of the group, many residents in town are unaware of this development and hence have not joined them in this fight.

The group said it has not received any response – favorable or otherwise – from local leaders, including Sen. Andrew Zwicker (NJ-16) who is a resident of South Brunswick.

The group has been emailing flyers to residents, requesting them to show up during Wednesday’s Planning Board meeting and speaking against the proposal.

The Planning Board meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, 7 p.m. at the South Brunswick Municipal Building, 540 Ridge Road. Here’s the agenda.

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SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — With new homes coming up in South Brunswick, the school district may require redistricting for the 2026-27 school year.

During last week’s Board of Education meeting, Superintendent Scott Feder informed the BOE and community that the district will be potentially adding 125 students for the next school year.

This number was calculated keeping in mind the township expects around 735 units for the next year. This July, the township expects 200 new homes in the township.

“It is the year after that that we have serious concerns,” Feder said. Around 1700 potential units are expected to be built in Northumberland Way, which will produce more elementary students than Brooks Crossing Elementary School can handle.

"We already have 500 plus kids at Brooks Crossing. We certainly can't handle 500 more. That means we cannot keep our districting as it is. Whether we reconfigure or not is another question, but we know we're going to have to redistrict,” Feder told the community.

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“This is a very unpopular thing to have to do in the school district. However, you cannot absorb 3100 new homes eventually without doing this.”

Feder also spoke about the budget implications of having more students in the district.

The district faces financial challenges due to New Jersey's tax laws, which limit school funding despite increased property taxes, Feder explained.

“Doesn't matter how much tax comes into the town, you don't get it. Just remember that that's the way it works in New Jersey right now,” Feder said. “If all of these kids come in and all this new money comes into the town, all you get is the kids and a small, infinitesimal amount of money over time from state aid, which is nothing in comparison to the need.”

A three-person committee is currently studying demographics and will present their findings to the BOE, who will then have to make a decision.

“This is a warning of sorts to inform the Board that at some point between the study we're going to be starting this year..., I would highly guess we will be making a recommendation to the board for redistricting,” Feder said.

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Jose Pena fabricated deliveries, resulting in nearly $1 million in additional losses to Williams-Sonoma, authorities said.

Patch Staff

MIDDLESEX COUNTY, NJ — A Middlesex County man was charged with participating in a conspiracy to defraud Williams-Sonoma, Inc. and another national transportation and logistics company through overbilling for trucking services, Acting U.S. Attorney Vikas Khanna said.

Jose Pena, 46, of Monroe was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

According to documents filed in court, Pena owned and operated a trucking firm that subcontracted with a national transportation and logistics company (referred to in the Complaint as “Company-1”) to provide delivery services in the New Jersey/New York metropolitan area for Williams-Sonoma, Inc., out of Williams-Sonoma’s distribution center in Cranbury, New Jersey.

From around June 2018 through September 2020, Pena conspired with others who worked at Williams-Sonoma and Company-1, to overbill the victim companies for over $3.6 million in fabricated deliveries and services that Pena and his firm did not complete, according to court documents.

In exchange for his co-conspirators’ participation, Pena paid to them lavish kickbacks, including cash, checks, a sport utility vehicle, and a Rolex watch.

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After an internal audit revealed the fraud and the victim companies no longer wished to contract with Pena, he hid his interest in another trucking firm that contracted directly with Williams-Sonoma in September 2021, court documents revealed.

Pena continued to work with a subset of his co-conspirators to overbill Williams-Sonoma for fabricated deliveries through June 2024, resulting in nearly $1 million in additional losses to Williams-Sonoma, authorities said.

Two of Pena’s co-conspirators, Raymond DeLeon and Cintia Elaxcar, pleaded guilty last month for participating in this conspiracy in their capacities as former employees of Company-1.

Raymond DeLeon, 38, of Ridgefield Park, New Jersey, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. DeLeon worked as an operations general manager for Company-1 and received over $200,000 in kickback payments in exchange for his role in causing the fraudulent billing requests to be submitted to the victim companies.

Cintia Elaxcar, 40, of Perth Amboy, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Elaxcar worked as a billing and dispatch manager for Company-1 and received over $435,000 in kickback payments in exchange for her role in causing the fraudulent billing requests to be submitted to the victim companies.

The charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud – which Pena is charged with and which DeLeon and Elaxcar have each pleaded guilty to – carries a maximum penalty of twenty years in prison. It also carries a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gain or loss from the offense, whichever is greater, authorities said.

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