A look back at 2009
By Mayor Bernie Platt
The Cherry Hill Sun
1/2/2010

As 2009 comes to an end, marking the completion of the decade, there is much to reflect on. This year was certainly a memorable one here at Town Hall and throughout Cherry Hill, marked by progressive changes and milestones.

But, one constant we experienced here was the start of new businesses. Despite the derailment of the national economy over the last year, Cherry Hill managed to add new retailers, restaurants and corporations to our roster, while benefitting from the expansions of several local mainstays. For instance, the new U.S. headquarters of Fox Rehabilitation – a well-known provider of physical, occupational and speech therapy – joined our slate of other prominent national business headquarters over the summer, maintaining 400 local jobs and creating 200 more.

Other developmental expansions within the Township over the last 12 months included the Melitta coffee-roasting plant off of Haddonfield-Berlin Road, which built its facility upward, enhancing production while maintaining its current footprint. Its vertical growth has allowed for implementation of a new roasting process that improves the facility’s energy efficiency by more than 20 percent while making Melitta even more competitive in the coffee market and created additional jobs at the site.

The much-celebrated opening of Nordstrom in the spring at the newly renovated Cherry Hill Mall marked the start of a sales year there that bucked the gloomy national retail trends and – with the continuing development at the Garden State Park site – has put the township back on the map as the premier East Coast shopping and dining destination.

Perhaps less-exciting renovations – but just as important – were the changes at Town Hall this year. Since the start of my second term, the focus has been on efficiency, in terms of constituent services, energy performance, and technology. This was the year we consolidated the newsletter and Community Programs brochure into one publication, and consolidated the various offices in our code-enforcement department to offer residents and businesses a “one-stop shop” for code-related services.

We also continued leveraging technology this year for public-records imaging, converting paper copies of documents to electronic files for more efficient public access, storage and protection. We’ve been awarded nearly half-a-million dollars from the state to further this project along – receiving a quarter-million-dollar award earlier this year – and are now sharing these imaging services with Gloucester Township and Merchantville, which has created new streams of revenue. Our police department became more efficient as well through the implementation of a new computer-aided dispatch system that has kept more police on the streets instead of at the station writing reports.

In addition – and with the help of nearly $1 million in federal energy-efficiency block grants – the municipal complex not only underwent a comprehensive energy audit this summer that provided a blueprint for significant conservation initiatives, it significantly furthered plans for a rooftop solar array, replacement of our aging HVAC system, and cost-saving lighting upgrades. You may have also noticed changes overhead this year, as PSE&G replaced more than 4,000 mercury-vapor streetlights with cleaner, more efficient induction fixtures.

And speaking of bright spots, Cherry Hill was honored in 2009 to host the nationally touring “Wall That Heal” – a dramatic half-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., on display for the region over several days in April on the grounds of Cherry Hill High School West.

We were also honored this year to be certified with the new state-wide Sustainable Jersey Program. In addition, the coalition of state and public organizations and universities behind the program bestowed Cherry Hill with the Sustainable Jersey Innovation Award for the success of RecycleBank throughout town. And, on the topic of RecycleBank, we celebrated the program’s one-year anniversary this past spring.

Another landmark event in 2009 – although not in a favorable way – was the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn our sex-offender-free-zone law. This ruling affected not only Cherry Hill’s efforts to protect its most vulnerable residents from sexual predators, but hundreds of other New Jersey municipalities that had adopted similar zoning ordinances to prevent sex offenders from living within a few thousand feet of places children congregate.

In the years to come, my administration will continue to embrace innovative ways to cut costs, reduce our environmental footprint, and make municipal operations ever-more efficient and productive. What won’t change is my accessibility – please continue to email me at MayorPlatt@CHTownship.com or call my office at 488-7878 with your thoughts, ideas and concerns. Happy New Year, everyone!

Bernie Platt is the mayor of Cherry Hill. He can be reached at 488-7878 or mayorplatt@chtownship.com.