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Firefighters extinguished several brush fires along the rail line in Sayreville, officials said.

SAYREVILLE, NJ - Firefighters extinguished multiple brush fires across Sayreville Friday night, fire officials said.

The initial fire was reported just before 6 p.m. near Jernee Mill Road, the Sayreville Volunteer Fire Department said in a statement Tuesday night. Shortly after firefighters were dispatched, multiple reports came in of brush fires behind Zaleski Drive.

“The calls continued to come in along the rail line and extended all the way down to Crossmans [Clay] Pit,” fire officials said. “All four Sayreville fire companies were involved in the efforts to control the multiple brush fires throughout the town.”

No injuries were reported in connection with the brush fires as of Tuesday night.The volunteer fire department thanked fire officials from Cheesequake, Colonia, East Brunswick, Helmetta, Hopelawn, Laurence Harbor, Madison Park, South Amboy, South Old Bridge and South River, as well as the New Jersey Forest Fire Service and county coordinators.

“Everyone from Sayreville … and our mutual aid companies worked hard and for long hours to contain this blaze,” the department said. “Thank you to everyone involved for helping get these fires under control, we appreciate and applaud your efforts.”

Find out what's happening in Matawan-Aberdeenwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Mid-March through May serves as peak wildfire season in the Garden State due to expected humidity increases and stronger winds, according to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service. The springtime also presents a greater risk of wildfires as trees don’t yet have full leaves, prompting more sun to hit the forest floor and dry out fallen brush.

2023's peak season may pose an even greater risk of wildfires as the lack of snow in South Jersey this winter have prevented pine needles and leaves from compacting. The result: this "ground fuel" may rapidly dry out on breezy or windy days that are at high risk for wildfire, state officials said. Related: NJ's Peak Wildfire Season May Be More Dangerous This Year: Here's Why

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SAYREVILLE, NJ - The Sayreville School District ranked No. 108 out of 245 school districts in New Jersey on Niche.com's 2024 rankings, jumping up seven spots from last year's ranking of No. 115.

Related: Where Do Sayreville Schools Rank Among Districts in New Jersey?

Niche also ranked the Sayreville School District No. 24 out of 353 for most diverse school districts in New Jersey and No. 53 out of the 245 for best school districts for athletes in New Jersey.

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Sayreville School District's Overall Niche Grade: B+

Despite Niche's grade for resources and facilities, the Sayreville School District is continuing to make improvements to all of their facilities, most notably through their $97 million "Cool the Schools" project. This plan, which was approved by the Sayreville Board of Education in October 2022, includes installing new HVAC units in all the schools in the district, improved electrical infrastructure upgrades (new lights, grids, switches, and circuits), as well as window and roofing replacements and more.

Related: Sayreville Superintendent of Schools Announces Progress Updates to $97M 'Cool the Schools' Project

"We recognized that our facilities were in need of refurbishment several years ago when we committed to combining a number of different strategies to improve them" said Dr. Richard Labbe, Superintendent of the Sayreville School District. "We're taking major steps to go ahead and improve those."

Niche reported that the district comprised of 6,295 students in grades PK, K-12 has a student-teacher ratio of 13 to 1. According to state test scores, Niche also reported that 24% of students in the Sayreville School District are at least proficient in math and 50% in reading.

Kimberly Grossman, Supervisor of English Language Arts, ESL, and World Language in the Sayreville School District, made a presentation of the district's 2022-23 Academic Year Data at the Board of Education meeting on Aug. 29, 2023. This presentation showed subjects that are in need of improvement, including reading, and math and efforts to improve performance.

For instance, the district is working with Edgenuity on web-based AP courses (French, U.S. Government Politics, Psychology), when available, to provide students access to tutors and a more engaging experience. Additionally, Sayreville schools will offer an AP Bootcamp in Summer 2024 to better prepare students for the rigors of AP coursework in 13 subjects. (This program is funded by a Federal Title Monies Grant.) Further the school district will continue to offer our AP teachers professional development through College Board, when available.

The district also is upping its efforts to help multilanguage (ESL) students. Action steps include dedicating a certified ESL teacher for each building, utilizing Federal Title IIIa Grant Funding for technology devices and tier II level tutoring to support multilingual learners, and analyzing domain results to drive instructional decisions in ESL pull-out classes.

Dr. Labbe responded to these results at the Aug. 29 meeting by addressing the Action Plans provided in the presentation, which include revising curriculum guides, improving tutoring and development, and implementing innovative new programs to increase engagement and performance. He noted that due to pandemic-related learning loss, students nationwide were struggling with concrete mathematical concepts, like illustrating fractions on a number line. He added that if concrete concepts proved challenging to grasp, higher level (more abstract) concepts would be even more difficult for students to understand. The superintendent said that the district will be offering tutoring to help bring students up to speed on math concepts like fractions.

"I think we have a great action plan to address the areas that we can see clearly need improvement," Dr. Labbe explained at the Aug. 29 Board of Education meeting. "Our theme for this year is 'Innovate to Accelerate'. I think we have modeled that in terms of the innovative resources and programs that we're providing to try to accelerate improvement in all of our students and advance their outcomes. No one on this administration would disagree that our scores definitely need improvement across the board, particularly in mathematics, but we are clearly up to the challenge."

Sayreville ranked as the 11th best school district in Middlesex County. According to Niche, the top 5 school districts in Middlesex County were South Brunswick, Edison Township, East Brunswick, Metuchen, and Old Bridge Township.

Niche Grades for Elementary Schools in the Sayreville School District:

Sayreville War Memorial High School

Sayreville War Memorial High School ranked at No. 188 out of 422 on Niche's 2024 Best Public High Schools in New Jersey list, bringing in an overall grade of B+.

The school brought home A's in diversity and sports, B+'s in teachers and college prep, B's in academics and clubs & activities, a C in administration, and C-'s in food and resources & facilities.

The average graduation rate from SWMHS is 96% with an average SAT score of 1190, an average ACT score of 27, and 13% of students enrolling in AP courses. Many of the top college choices for SPF students being Rutgers, Montclair, and Kean University.

To see a full list of the 2024 Best Schools rankings, visit: https://www.niche.com/k12/rankings/.

SAYREVILLE – Construction of the long-awaited Bass Pro Shops is expected to begin before year's end at Riverton, the proposed $2.5 billion mixed-use development at the former National Lead site.

"Bass Pro Shops has told us it will be the largest, single-level Bass Pro Shop in the country," said Kevin Polston, project executive with North American Properties, the developer of the property.

"There will be a restaurant and they typically have a large aquarium, but we don't have the plans yet," said Mark Fetah, North American Properties' senior vice president of development. "They are still working internally with their design team to enrich the customer experience of the store to an even higher degree."

North American Properties expects to fast-track construction of the approximately 198,500-square-foot store by designing and building the footings and foundations, while Bass Pro designs the rest of the store, said Fetah, who has worked on Epcot Center, Euro Disneyland, 7 World Trade Center and Princeton Forrestal Village.

Construction is expected to take 20 to 22 months, Fetah said, adding that supply chain issues are adding six months to the time it would ordinarily take.

In addition, there is still some infrastructure work that needs to be done to provide utilities and on-site roadways to service the store, he said.

"Bass Pro is a very complicated, large building," Polston said. "They do a lot of specialty installations on the inside of the buildings. They study the geography of each area. They will find points of interest in Central New Jersey and the Raritan estuary to reference in their aquarium and wildlife diorama programs."

What is Riverton?

Located at the Chevalier Avenue exit off the Garden State Parkway just south of the Driscoll Bridge, the planned 6.5 million-square-foot mixed-use Riverton development, which stretches along two miles of the Raritan River, is proposed to include about 1.3 million square feet of retail and entertainment space, 2 million square feet of office and other commercial space and 2,000 residential units, which includes 300 affordable housing units.

Also see:Bridgewater Commons mall sold; new owner plans 'vibrant mixed-use destination'

Polston explained that the project is a lengthy process as North American Properties is building a "new town."

"First the property had to be cleaned up," he said. "Then we have to build everything you typically have in a town, including roads, domestic waters, sanitary and storm sewers, natural gas and electric."

"I definitely have an affinity for Sayreville," Fetah said. "We are transforming an industrial site that was the heart and soul of Sayreville for so many years.”

The current plan is to construct 1,500 apartment units and 500 townhomes, Polston said, adding that breakdown could change.

More:Director of leasing named for $2.5 billion Riverton project in Sayreville

The 400-plus acre site is broken into three parcels – A, B and C. Parcel C is the largest, about 312 acres with about 285 developable acres, where most of the building will take place.

In addition to Bass Pro Shops, the first phase of the project, approved by the Sayreville Planning Board in December 2019, includes the Gateway Retail District buildings and the first half of the village. That phase includes a hotel and conference center, amphitheater, movie theater, restaurants, shops and nearly 300 residential units.

“The village will be the heart of Riverton,” Fetah said.

The Gateway Retail District will have six buildings, some of which will have multiple tenants, along the southern part of the property, south of the intersection of Peter Fisher Boulevard and the Main Street Extension.

The tenants are expected to include a convenience store, quick-service restaurants and other commercial businesses, the developers said.

"We're in advanced lease negotiations for at least three or four of the retail establishments," Fetah said.

Because the buildings are smaller and much simpler to construct, it is likely they will be open before Bass Pro Shops, Polston said.

"We plan to start the first of the Gateway Retail District buildings early summer next year," Fetah said.

Last month, the Planning Board approved a subdivision of one section of Parcel C into four lots. One lot will house a municipal pump station and another a 30-megawatt JCP&L electrical substation, which will provide electric services to the development.

The board also approved changes to the footprint and exterior of the Bass Pro Shops building, he Fetah said.

A $1.3 million federal grant was awarded to study connectivity from Parcel C across Parcels B and A and ultimately to the train station and planned ferry in South Amboy, Polston said.

"The grant was awarded to SERA (Sayreville Economic and Redevelopment Agency), but we partnered with them in grant application and administration processes," Polston said. "We'll begin working on that this year."

The project also includes about 50 acres of open space, which is envisioned to have walking and biking paths, pocket parks and other public amenities along the waterfront. It will also include a heroes' walk, honoring local veterans.

Thirty-seven of the 55 acres in Parcel A were deeded to Middlesex County and the state Department of Environmental Protection for permanent open space, Polston said.

About four of the remaining acres are retained for a future jughandle connection to Route 35 and the balance is tidal lands retained by SERA as green space, he said.

North American Properties has secured a waterfront development permit from the DEP which facilitates the buildings on the western part of the village, Fetah said.

"This is the zone where we thought we would create the waterfront promenade, amphitheater and other amenities that would take advantage of that connection to the water," Polston said.

A visit to Riverton

During a recent visit to the site, workers were seen constructing a concrete wall to serve as a platform for the buildings that will overlook the promenade and waterfront.

"There's also the engineering and the architecture coordination and the process of gaining all the approvals," Fetah said. "After this year, we'll have destiny in our own hands. By the end of this year, we'll have all the complicated issues, such as easements, right of ways, offsite improvements and working with the existing utilities, under our belt. Then we'll work on the buildings. That's when the public will really see Riverton taking shape."

Environmental remediation has been completed on about two-thirds of Parcel C, clearing the site for development, Polston said.

More:Environment groups given OK to proceed with NL lawsuit

As part of the redevelopment agreement with Sayreville, North American Properties committed to on-site public amenities, facilities and payments, including an open-air amphitheater along the river and other public performing spaces, an onsite conference center and the waterfront walkway, Polston said.

North American Properties is also making contributions toward the new community center the borough is building as well as borough fire department facilities, Polston said.

Riverton is also conducting offsite improvement projects including roadway widening at Route 9 & 35 on Chevalier Avenue and extension of the existing municipal water main in Sayreville, Fetah said. The main roads on the site, stormwater management and sanitary sewer systems and domestic water distribution system will be dedicated to the borough.

Both Polston and Fetah agree that the project is unique.

"The idea of making a difference by taking this damaged property and creating something vibrant, new and part of the fabric of the community is a fulfilling exercise for me," Polston said. "I'm also working with a great team. Thousands of people will be involved in this project over time. It's a very unique opportunity and a very big challenge, but it is fun."

"Everything we are building here is for the long term," Fetah said. "On the architecture side, this is a wide-open palette. There will be an organic collection of buildings. We are also trying to use as many local service providers as we can. We enjoy a tremendous relationship with the union building trades on this project. The subcontractors and trades people working here are self-motivated and are inherently committed to delivering a quality product which will be a lasting hallmark of the Riverton development."

National Lead, which maintained a paint manufacturing operation at the site until 1982, owned the property from 1935 until 2005.

In 1996, the property was declared an area in need of redevelopment. Three years later, the Waterfront Redevelopment Plan was adopted by the borough.

In 2005, SERA acquired the property for redevelopment. O'Neill Properties was brought in by the redeveloper, Sayreville Seaport Associates, to develop the property, but they parted ways and in 2017 North American Properties took over as the developer.

Email: sloyer@gannettnj.com

Susan Loyer covers Middlesex County and more for MyCentralJersey.com. To get unlimited access to her work, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

SAYREVILLE – Some borough residents have asked the Borough Council to hire an attorney to review plans to build a mosque on Ernston Road in the Parlin section of town.

"I would also like to request an additional attorney to look at the plans because it seems very complicated and I just want to make sure that us residents are getting a fair shake at the situation that may be," a Louis Street resident said at the Borough Council meeting last week.

The 44,391-square-foot mosque with a 40-foot minaret is proposed for a 2.49-acre property in a residential zone on Ernston Road between Bordentown Avenue and Route 9 west of Samsel Upper Elementary School on the Old Bridge border.

The borough Planning Board will hold a public hearing on the project at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 21 in Council Chambers, 167 Main St.

Other residents also called on the Council for help.

"I'm here to request an additional lawyer for the 216 Ernston Road application just to help with overseeing everything with an expert," an Ernston Road resident said.

"I wanted to second his request to get an expert to just evaluate everything from an independent and fair point of view," another resident said. "If somebody could put forth the motion tonight to get the ball rolling that would be greatly appreciated."

"I understand the nature of this request, but this is something the Planning Board has to initiate," said Mayor Kennedy O'Brien, who also serves on the Planning Board, along with Councilman John Zebrowski. "It's not something the governing body does."

But O'Brien said he would relay the residents' concerns to the Planning Board.

Borough Attorney Matt Moench told the residents that the Council is not going to comment on an application pending in front of the Planning Board. The borough and the congregation are also in litigation over alleged code violations on the property.

"People are here," he said. "That sends a message. There's not always a full room of people."

Moench also explained that only the Planning Board, as a separate entity, can hire whatever experts it requires.

"This Board does not approve any experts or hire lawyers for the Planning Board," Moench said. "This is not the Planning Board. Nothing regarding this application is coming in front of this Board tonight or any other night."

"It's a separate statutory body, who hires their professionals as they deem fit," the attorney said.

More:Edison Muslim Community Center planning to build mosque on Plainfield Avenue

Moench said residents, just like the applicant, can hire an attorney to represent them before the Planning Board and object to the plans.

Moench reminded residents that the Borough Council "has no control over what the planning board does."

Prior to opening the public portion of the meeting, the mayor had the borough attorney address the group on the matter.

"It's not to exclude anybody, but this is our town, and we need to, I always say, protect your town and that's what this is about," the mayor said. "It's so that an issue can be discussed in its proper place, in its proper time, in its proper forum without fear of retaliation, without lawsuits and that we follow the law."

This body as a whole has no control over what the Planning Board does, Moench said.

Moench also explained that any comments made by the Borough Council could be brought up in any potential future litigation over the eventual decision by Planning Board.

The Ernston Road property now houses Masjid Sadar and Community Center, which was closed due to code violations, and is the subject of ongoing litigation between the borough and Shameer Properties, owner of the lot. The existing structures on the lot would be removed.

The proposal calls for a three-story building with three prayer halls, two for men (3,332 square feet and 5,057 square feet) and one for women (1,5621 square feet).

The plan also includes a gym with a basketball court, separate exercise rooms for men and women, five classrooms, a 2,658-square-foot multipurpose room, a kitchen, an eating area, two offices and a 1,733-square-foot youth activity hall.

Email: sloyer@gannettnj.com

Susan Loyer covers Middlesex County and more for MyCentralJersey.com. To get unlimited access to her work, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Sayreville Recreation hosts its 2023 Independence Day Celebration at Kennedy Park on Saturday, July 1.

The Sayreville Recreation Department will host the 2023 Independence Day Celebration at Kennedy Park, 807 Washington Rd, Parlin, NJ, on Satuday, July 1.Photo Credit: Sayreville Recreation (Facebook)

The Sayreville Recreation Department will host the 2023 Independence Day Celebration at Kennedy Park, 807 Washington Rd, Parlin, NJ, on Satuday, July 1.Photo Credit: Sayreville Recreation (Facebook)

The Sayreville Recreation Department will host the 2023 Independence Day Celebration at Kennedy Park, 807 Washington Rd, Parlin, NJ, on Satuday, July 1.Photo Credit: Sayreville Recreation (Facebook)

The Sayreville Recreation Department will host the 2023 Independence Day Celebration at Kennedy Park, 807 Washington Rd, Parlin, NJ, on Satuday, July 1.Photo Credit: Sayreville Recreation (Facebook)

The Sayreville Recreation Department will host the 2023 Independence Day Celebration at Kennedy Park, 807 Washington Rd, Parlin, NJ, on Satuday, July 1.Photo Credit: Sayreville Recreation (Facebook)

The Sayreville Recreation Department will host the 2023 Independence Day Celebration at Kennedy Park, 807 Washington Rd, Parlin, NJ, on Satuday, July 1.Photo Credit: Sayreville Recreation (Facebook)

Sayreville Recreation hosts its 2023 Independence Day Celebration at Kennedy Park on Saturday, July 1.Photo Credit: John Mooney

By TAPinto Raritan Bay Staff

PublishedJune 30, 2023 at 9:00 AM

Last UpdatedJune 30, 2023 at 3:04 PM

SAYREVILLE, NJ - The Sayreville Recreation Department will host the 2023 Independence Day Celebration at Kennedy Park, 807 Washington Rd, Parlin, NJ, on Satuday, July 1.

This event will begin at 4:00 p.m. and end at 9:30 p.m. on Saturday and will feature live music from Central Jersey's #1 Rock Cover Band, Simple Groove. Listed below is the schedule for this event along with information on the food trucks and inflatables that will be present and the sponsors for this event:

Event Schedule:

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Food Trucks:

Inflatables:

Sponsors:

TAPinto Raritan Bay is a free online newspaper serving Sayreville, South Amboy, and other communities along the Raritan Bay in Middlesex County, NJ. Like our Facebook page, visit www.tapinto.net/towns/raritan-bay, and sign up for the daily eNewsletter to get the latest hyperlocal news.

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