Advance Robbinsville
APRIL 2025 FREE
Movin’ on up
COMMUNITYNEWS.ORG
End of an era
Municipal services consolidation in Investors Bank building targeted for the end 2025
Mayor Dave Fried announces he won’t seek re-election in November
BY BILL SANSERVINO
BY BILL SANSERVINO
Robbinsville’s Town Hall is getting a major facelift—by moving out altogether. Municipal operations will be relocating to the former Roma Bank/Citizens Bank building, which officials believe will be a big improvement over the current facility. The move, says Robbinsville Mayor Dave Fried, doesn’t only offer more space. It also will centralize government functions, bring the Robbinsville and Hightstown police departments under one roof, and offer much-needed public meeting space—all while saving money. Instead of constructing a new police station, the township is opting for a long-term lease, a decision the mayor believes is both financially prudent and forward-thinking. The bank building, which is the centerpiece commercial structure in the Robbinsville See MOVE, Page 10
After 25 years as a public official, Robbinsville Mayor Dave Fried is calling it a career. Fried announced on Monday, March 30, in a written statement that he has decided not to run for reelection when his four-year term is up this November. His term officially ends on Dec. 31, 2025. “I have long said the most difficult and rewarding thing anyone can do is put their name on an election ballot,” Fried said. “This November, for the first time in almost a quarter century, my name will not be on that ballot.” The full text of his announcement can be read on page 6. Fried, 57, has served as mayor of Robbinsville Township since 2005, becoming the first to hold the office under the township’s current mayor-council form of government. Sometime after his retirement at the end of the year, Fried is See FRIED, Page 6
Robbinsville High School lacrosse player Morgan Gonser. (Photo by Rich Fisher.)
Gonser brews playmaking power and positivity for RHS girls LAX BY RICH FISHER
Being called a coffee bean doesn’t seem too flattering for a high school girl. Or anybody, for that matter. But in the outside-the-box world that is Robbinsville High girls lacrosse, it’s quite the compliment, and Morgan Gonser is happy to be dubbed a coffee bean in the water. Even if she wasn’t quite sure what it meant at first.
“I was definitely not faithful to that, I was like ‘What is she saying?’” Gonser recalled with a laugh. The notion, of course, comes from Ravens coach Jennamarie Colicchia—who wears a “Be a coffee bean” bracelet at practice. Always willing to send new and varied inspirational messages to her players, Colicchia was impressed by the public speaking of a former football player
who overcame several years of adversity. “He was told during a tough time that he could be an egg going in the water and become hard to the world,” the coach explained. “Or he could be a carrot going in the water that would be soft and crumble. Or he could be a coffee bean that would cause ripples in the water and change its surroundings. See GONSER, Page 18
Academy Dental CHILDREN & ADULTS Complete Dentistry for the Whole Family
AcademyDentalNJ.com
See our ad on pg 3
Currently Open for Emergency Dental Care See our ad on page 11
PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID SPRINGFIELD,1179 MA NEWARK, NJ PERMIT NO. 142