Welcome to Galloway

Galloway Township Council members have frequently spoken about the slow pace of government at public meetings for a long time, but on Tuesday night, even the process’s biggest critics were impressed with how quickly one issue has been resolved.

On Tuesday night, the Galloway Council voted unanimously to approve the installation of a sign at the bottom of the Garden State Parkway exit into Galloway that will state “Welcome to Galloway.”

A PDF of what the new sign will look like is attached to this story.

The sign cost $13,000, with the bulk of the project being paid for by and the . The sign is expected to go up June 1, which is right in the middle of ShopRite LPGA Classic week and two days before the tournament itself is scheduled to begin.

“(ShopRite LPGA Classic Tournament Executive Director) Tim Erensen has said he will pay for a sign that says ‘Home of the LPGA’ in the same area,” Township Manager Steve Bonanni said. “I was in Florida and they had one built there. It was really nice.”

Currently, there are several signs posted for seemingly everything in the township, creating a mess of confusion for anyone entering Galloway from the Parkway.

“It all started when I talked to a resident who started kicking dirt around,” said Councilman Tony Coppola, who spearheaded the effort to bring the sign to Galloway. “Hopefully, when it’s done, there will be a nice ‘Welcome to Galloway’ sign, and it didn’t cost the taxpayers a cent.

“I appreciate Stockton and AtlantiCare doing what they did,” Coppola said. “It’s a great testament and it says a lot about the community helping each other out.”

Coppola believes the whole process took between six weeks and two months to complete.

He said any of the signs that are not authorized by an ordinance of the township will be removed from the area, as well. Bonanni said that of the 22 signs currently in that location, none are authorized by the township outside the current 'Welcome' sign.

“It’s something people have been talking about for years,” Coppola said. “You come off the Parkway and you see a mess of signs. It would be really nice to have one ‘Welcome to Galloway’ sign. Well, we finally got some bids and we were awarded one, and now we can finally move forward.”

Coppola credited Bonanni and Township Planner Tiffany Cuviello with pushing the process through, and doing so as quickly as they did. He also credited Mayor Keith Hartman and Deputy Mayor Don Purdy with having the business sense to know how to get things done quickly. He also recognized Atlantic County Executive Director Dennis Levinson and Rich Dase for their efforts to help on the county level.

He knows this isn’t a life-or-death matter, but he also recognized the importance of giving a good first impression.

“This is our town and we want it to look nice,” Coppola said. “We need to put our best foot forward. We might have a presidential debate and we are going to have the LPGA here. We’re going to have people coming in to Galloway that might not otherwise be here. And it’s an important step to attracting businesses to locate in to Galloway.”