Hear Early Morning Bird Songs, Relax at Dusk at Buck Garden

Hours extended through summer at Somerset County Park Commission's Buck Gardens.

Starting this month, the Somerset County Park Commission is extending hours for garden admission at the Leonard J. Buck Garden off Layton Road in Far Hills to 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. through the summer. The county park and rock garden, located at 11 Layton Road in Far Hills not far from the crowded Hills section of Bernards Township and a short distance from the commercial centers of Bedminster and Far Hills along Route 202, provides a unique setting of woods, stream and rock outcroppings. Garden visitors will have more time to take advantage of the warmer weather and longer days to hear the chorus of early morning birds as they defend their territories, or make the most of taking photographs in the sun’s natural light. The garden also is a good …

• Photos (5)

Far Hills Mayor Wants to Meet on Bernards Roads Dispute

Deadline approaches for day on which Bernards has said Far Hills must pay full half of road maintenance and projects.

Far Hills Mayor Paul Vallone said he would like to meet again with Bernards Township officials as a Feb. 27 deadline approaches in dispute over how much Far Hills should contribute to costs for two roads equally owned by both towns that has led to the Bernards Township Committee threatening to plow and pave only one lane of each road. "I would be happy to discuss possible options," Vallone said on Tuesday night. "We are trying to come up with some sort of agreement," he said, in regard to the issues of routine maintenance and also repaving when necessary for Douglas Road and a portion of Mine Brook Road. The border for the two towns has run down the center of each road since Far Hills split off from Bernards Township to become its own …

•  5 Comments
• Photos (2)

Far Hills Mayor Responds to Roads Maintenance Issue

Far Hills Mayor says negotiations will continue for road maintenance agreement with Bernard Twp., but borough has been paying fair share.

Editor's Note: The following is Far Hills' Mayor Paul Vallone's commentary regarding the Bernards Township Committee's decision on Feb. 12 that Far Hills should begin paying a greater percentage of the cost of maintaining Douglas Road and a portion of Mine Brook Road shared by both municipalities. The border for the towns runs down the center of both roads, officials said. To the editor, February 15, 2013   Re: Road Service Agreement between Far Hills and Bernards Township: Far Hills is paying it's fair share.   I would like to address several issues raised concerning the recent issue that has arisen concerning the Interlocal agreement of shared services between Far Hills and Bernards Twp. with respect to the maintenance of Minebrook Road …

•  8 Comments
• Photos (1)

Bernards to Far Hills: Pay Your Share

Bernards Twp. Committee insists township will only pave and plow one lane of shared roads under current funding formula.

Bernards Township and Far Hills Borough have had a longstanding agreement in which Bernards has picked up 85 percent of the cost of maintaining and improving Douglas Road and a portion of Mine Brook Road — with the border between the two towns running smack down the middle of both roads — and now Bernards Township's governing body is insisting the borough take on a greater cost share. In fact, the Bernards Township Committee voted this week to send a letter to Far Hills officials requesting that the borough start paying 50 percent of such expenses as plowing, patching and repaving within 60 days. Otherwise, Bernards will only take care of its side of the street, according to a directive approved by the committee. "To me, it's an …

•  5 Comments
• Photos (3)

b flake

6:37 pm on Friday, February 15, 2013

Actually if you think about it, Far HIlls should pay a little more than 50%, because they don't have the cost of employees, trucks, insurance, gas and the like and Bernards taxpayers pay to plow and maintain the Far HIlls road, Bernards taxpayers should get a return on their investment and not purely cost reimbursement.   more ›

View Finder

Send Us Your Snow Photos, and See How Others Enjoyed the Snow Day

The day after what may be this winter's biggest snowstorm, the sun was shining and some people were out enjoying the snow.

The sunshine and brilliant blue skies the day after Friday's snowstorm hit the entire metropolitan area brought out shoppers, sledders and even cross-country skiers participating in Bernards Township Mayor Carolyn Gaziano's first (official) fitness event of the year. This was the second try for the mayor to launch this year's Mayor Wellness Campaign, since there wasn't enough snow on the first try at the Somerset County Environmental Education Center in Basking Ridge. This Saturday exceeded the EEC's requirement for at least four inches of snow for the public to ski for free on the trails at the county park at 190 Lord Stirling Road. Gaziano said the event residents to join her. Skiing is free whenever there is sufficient snow at the …

•  1 Comment
• Photos (29)

Linda Sadlouskos

5:51 pm on Sunday, February 10, 2013

Thanks Alexander & Betsy, for the great snow photos!   more ›

Bernardsville Told to Expect 100% Power, Far Hills 80% By Weekend

Despite continuing outages, progress promised through remainder of the week.

Bernardsville Mayor Lee Honecker said at about 2 p.m. on Wednesday that JCP&L is saying that about 65 percent of borough customers had restored power as of that time, although pockets of areas continued to remain in the black. But he said that the power company had said that 100 percent of the borough would be fully restored by this Saturday or Sunday. He said he has been trying to work in cooperation with the power company. "You have to keep them in our town," he said. The mayor said he hopes that Wednesday night's predicted storm does not undo progress that has been made. Meanwhile, in neighboring Far Hills Borough, where some residents have been fearful that power restoration could take weeks, Far Hills Police Chief Ken Hartman said …

•  11 Comments
• Photos (2)

Email Blast Leads to Unfounded Burglary Concern, Far Hills Chief Says

Home's open door results in rumors, alleged burglars also tracked in Somerset Hills.

A flurry of police activity Friday night sparked a wave of misinformation sent across the Internet via email from anxious residents, Far Hills Police Chief Ken Hartman said.  "There was a vehicle of known burglars that were being followed by a task force of about a dozen officers. They landed in Far Hills," Hartman said. "They did not commit any crimes and left the area." As recently as last week, there was a burglary fitting the pattern of daytime burglaries seen in Morris and Somerset counties for the past few months.  Mendham Borough Police Chief Pat Libertino told residents to lock their doors and set their alarms. Libertino also said that the recent string of robberies were the work of a gang. This week, Mendham Township Police Chief …

•  2 Comments
• Photos (1)

Somerset Hills Schools Will Open With New Administrators, Tentative Contract

Tentative settlement with Somerset Hills Education Association up for ratification this month, superintendent says.

The Somerset Hills School District will open the doors of its three schools on Thursday with a projected enrollment of 2,056 students, and a tentative settlement on a teachers' contract that had remained unresolved through the previous school year, according to information from Schools Superintendent Peter Miller. There also will be a number of new top administrators in the regional school district, Miller said. The new Bernards High principal is Scott Neigel, and new Bernardsville Middle School Assistant Principal is Shawn Kelly, Miller said in an email. Gretchen Dempsey is now assistant principal at the Bedwell Elementary School, and Colleen Butler will fill the position of K-8 curriculum coordinator, he said. Butler's position was …

• Photos (1)