New Council President, Vice President To Serve Bridgewater For 2025

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — A new Council President and Vice President were appointed to keep Bridgewater Township moving forward for 2025.

At the Thursday night Reorganization meeting, Howard Norgalis was selected as Council President for 2025. This is his fifth time serving as Council President in his 21 years on the Council.

"When I was first elected to this Council, Councilman Norgalis kind of took things under his wing and helped not only Councilman Kirsh but myself to become acclimated to the Council and make sure we were set up for success to be up and running in as short of time period as possible," said Councilman Timothy Ring, who nominated Norgalis for Council President.

"That leadership he showed five years ago sits in my memory today. I can think of no better person to take over as Council President from me than Councilman Norglais," said Ring.

The Council unanimously appointed Norgalis for the appointment of Council President. The Council also appointed Filipe Pedroso as Vice President.

"Pedroso is an attorney of record, he's a business owner, he's a family man, and he has lived in more sections of Bridgewtae than the rest of us combined," said Norgalis. "It is my privilege to nominate Filipe Pedroso as Vice President."

Norgalis thanked his fellow Councilmembers, Township staff and volunteers, and supporters.

"In 2025, Bridgewater will face numerous challenges not the least of those being the affordable housing regulations forced upon us by the courts. Bridgewater over the years has been a great steward of affordable housing. Unfortunately, the previous process has been scrapped and we will be faced with, in my opinion, an arbitrary additional allocation that will be of concern to our residents," said Norgalis.

"Land development will be another top issue this year. The texture of our town is changing as large campus locations are no longer in vogue. These changes will be handled on a case-by-case basis," said Norgalis. "We will address and resolve situations in a careful and thoughtful way in 2025 just as we have done in previous years."

Mayor Matthew Moench said he was "absolutely thrilled to have Howard as our Council President this year. He has been a mentor for me… since I first got on the Council in 2008. Howard's wisdom and steady hand. He has seen it all."

During Moench's State of the Township Address, he also noted some improvements coming to Bridgewater including a new Township website and more community events.

The website will offer a modern user-friendly platform designed to improve communication and increase transparency to make it easier for residents to access services and information.

"This upgrade is a significant step forward in our commitment to better serving you and keeping you uninformed around the clock," said Moench.

Additionally, over the next year, Moench said the Township will expand community events to bring Bridgewater families, neighbors, and businesses together.

"Whether through festivals or opportunities to engage with local government, we want to continue strengthening the sense of community that makes Bridgewater special," said Moench.

Additionally, Moench noted two main focuses for the Township in 2025 will center around land use development and the affordable housing mandate.

This year the Township will be finalizing both of their new Township master plan and open space and recreation master plan.

"These plans will represent our voices and priorities and ensure that we preserve the character of our community while guiding thoughtful strategic development. This is a blueprint that will serve Bridgewater’s growth over the next five, 10, 25 years into the future," said Moench.

Moench also passionately spoke about the affordable housing mandate imposed on the Township by the State.

"Make no mistake what this affordable housing mandate will do is destroy suburban communities, like Bridgewater, by forcing hundreds and thousands of units into communities that cannot support the infrastructure, the education costs, or any of the resources that are neded to provide for that level of housing," said Moench. "We will continue to fight that every step of the way. Our community is one that welcomes everybody, we have housing from the top to the bottom and we will continue to provide affordable housing that fits our community, that meets the needs of our community, and provides an opportunity for people to come to Bridgewater."

Moench said the Township will work to minimize the impacts of the affordable housing mandates whether that is through thoughtful planning or public-private partnerships to cut back on the numbers or go to court to fight the mandated numbers.

Overall, Moench reiterated the importance of working together as a community to preserve the Bridgewater that residents love.

"The heart of this initiative is Bridgewater succeeds when we work together whether the success of the Reach program to combat the opioid crisis, the reconstruction of over 250 township roads, or the collaborative input into our master plan," said Moench. "We have proven by coming together we can achieve real results."

The next Township Council meeting will be held on Thursday, Jan. 16 at 7:30 p.m. in the Municipal Building at 100 Commons Way.

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