Warren is buying the Round Top Swim and Tennis Club for up to $1,050,000, and the $1.4 million bond ordinance behind it was adopted Thursday
Ordinance 26-23 caps the price at $1,050,000 for the 12 acre club at 106 Mount Horeb Road, $70,000 down from the Open Space Trust Fund. Adopted September 24.
Mark Krane told the Township Committee on August 20 that Warren had negotiated to buy the Round Top Swim Club for $1,050,000, that both sides had agreed to the contract, and that the township could not sign it until a bond ordinance passed. On Thursday night the Committee held the public hearing on that ordinance, and the township's list of 2026 adopted ordinances now carries it: Ordinance 26-23, a $1,400,000 bond ordinance for the acquisition of property, filed under the title Round Top. The pending ordinances page, which held it for five weeks, is empty this morning.
The property is 106 Mount Horeb Road, Block 55, Lot 10.20, on the south side of Mount Horeb Road at Stratford Court. That is the address the Round Top Swim and Tennis Club gives on its own website, where the club describes itself as private, member owned and operated since 1966, set on 12 landscaped acres, with a six lane, 25 meter pool with a diving well and board, a children's pool with a play fountain, four tennis courts and large playing fields. The same website carries the notice its board of directors posted before the summer: after 60 years of serving the community, the club would not open for the season and would permanently close, citing rising operating and maintenance costs and declining membership.
So the township is buying a closed swim club. The ordinance calls the purpose the acquisition of property and related improvements. It does not say what Warren intends to do with two pools, four courts and a clubhouse, and neither do the August minutes. That question is the one to bring to the next meeting.
What the ordinance says
The full text of Ordinance 26-23 is in Thursday's agenda packet, which is where every figure in this section comes from. The township appropriates $1,400,000 for the purchase and related improvements. Of that, $70,000 is the down payment the Local Bond Law requires, and the ordinance says the down payment is available from the Open Space Trust Fund. The remaining $1,330,000 is authorized as bonds or notes. Section 11 approves the purchase itself at a price not to exceed $1,050,000, which the ordinance says the township deems reasonable, and authorizes the mayor, the chief financial officer, the clerk and the township's professionals to sign the contract and whatever else the closing needs. The period of usefulness, the life over which the debt can run, is 40 years. The ordinance takes effect 20 days after its first publication following adoption.
| Item | Amount | Where the ordinance says it |
|---|---|---|
| Total appropriation, purchase and related improvements | $1,400,000 | Section 1 |
| Down payment, from the Open Space Trust Fund | $70,000 | Section 1 |
| Bonds or notes authorized | $1,330,000 | Section 2 |
| Purchase price, not to exceed | $1,050,000 | Section 11 |
| Period of usefulness | 40 years | Section 6(b) |
| Property | Block 55, Lot 10.20 | Section 3(a), 106 Mount Horeb Road |
The gap between the $1,050,000 price and the $1,400,000 appropriation came up at introduction. Committeeman Lance Blick asked what the difference covered, and Mr. Krane, the township administrator, said the appropriation includes the cost of due diligence and any initial repairs that must be addressed right away, according to the minutes of August 20. Committeeman Daniel McCarey asked for confirmation that the township was buying only the assets and not the debt or liabilities of the Round Top corporation. Mr. Krane confirmed the township is purchasing the property, facilities and fixtures, not the entity.
The minutes also record how the purchase is to be funded. Mr. Krane said it will be funded through the Open Space Trust Fund. The ordinance itself puts the $70,000 down payment in that fund and borrows the rest, so the two statements fit together if the trust fund is what repays the debt. That is my reading, not something the record says in those words.
The vote to introduce, and the vote to adopt
Ordinance 26-23 was introduced on August 20 on a motion by Deputy Mayor Vanessa Kian, seconded by Committeeman McCarey. The roll call was five yes votes: McCarey, Blick, Daniel Croson, Kian and Mayor Shaun Fine. Clerk Donna Hands announced the public hearing for September 24 at 7 p.m. in the Susie B. Boyce Court Room. Those minutes were themselves approved Thursday, and they carry the notation Approved September 24, 2026.
Thursday's vote is not in the record yet. The agenda listed Ordinance 26-23 under public hearings for adoption on second reading, the adopted ordinances page now lists it, and the pending page no longer does. The roll call, and anything said at the hearing by the public or the Committee, will appear in the minutes when the Committee approves them at its next meeting, which the township calendar puts on Thursday, October 22 at 7 p.m. The township usually posts a highlights notice a week or so after each meeting, and none has appeared for September 24 as of this morning.
One more piece of the transaction was on Thursday's consent agenda. Resolution 2026-252 confirms that the administrator signed a limited access agreement on September 17, which the property owner provided so the township could proceed with due diligence while the ordinance was pending. The resolution describes the township as desiring to purchase the property at Block 55, Lot 10.20, and names Ordinance 26-23 as the funding.
The club, in its own words
The Round Top Swim and Tennis Club's website still describes the place as it was. Private, member owned and operated since 1966. A six lane, 25 meter pool with a diving well and board. A children's pool with a play fountain. Four tennis courts, large playing fields, 12 landscaped acres. Above that description sits the notice from the board of directors that the club will not be opening for the upcoming season and will be permanently closing operations, after 60 years of serving the community, because of rising operational and maintenance costs along with declining membership levels. The notice carries no date.
TAPinto Warren reported that the club called a special meeting of its members for Monday, July 27 on a proposed dissolution and sale. I could read only that article's headline and date, so what the members voted on, and how, is not reported here. The township's minutes fill in the rest of the sequence: by August 20 the price was negotiated and the contract agreed, on September 17 the owner granted the township access for its inspections, and on September 24 the Committee heard the ordinance.
Where this fits
This is the second property Warren has bought in nine months. The township bought 73 Mountainview Road for $875,000 on December 30, 2025, and Mr. Krane reported in January that it would be designated open space, as reported here. In August the Committee adopted a $1,140,160 appropriation for the Dealaman trail and pond at 173 and 197 Mount Horeb Road, half of it a Green Acres grant and half from the same open space trust, covered here. Dealaman is farther east on the same road. The Open Space Advisory Committee set its 2026 focus on Dealaman, Coddington and Glenhurst, and Recreation Director Joe Passaro told that committee in April that Public Works has 17 people with 3 assigned to trails, per the minutes cited in the Codington trail post. A swim club is a different kind of property from a trail. Pools, filtration, a clubhouse and courts carry maintenance that a meadow does not, which is presumably why the ordinance sets aside money for initial repairs.
The purchase also lands beside the budget conversation Mr. Krane opened on August 20, when he gave the Committee his memo on the 2027 budget process and asked for reactions at the September 24 meeting. The minutes summarize his stated goals as maintaining the lowest amount to be raised by taxes while continuing the level of services, and keeping in mind the township's Aaa bond rating, which Moody's affirmed this month as reported here. Thursday's agenda carried a 2027 Budget Goals Update under discussion, along with raffle license fees, a mission statement, the Coddington property, Wagner Farm and short term rentals. What was said on any of those is not yet on the record.
The facts above come from the record. This paragraph is my view. Warren just committed $1,400,000 to a property whose defining features are two pools and four tennis courts, and nothing in the ordinance or the minutes says whether those features survive. Before the closing, the Committee should put its intent in writing: a public pool, a park with the pools filled in, a passive open space parcel, or a decision deferred to a study. Residents who want to weigh in have a date, October 22 at 7 p.m., and an address, 44 Mountain Boulevard.
The rest of Thursday's agenda
The Round Top ordinance was one of two ordinances up for adoption and one of about 20 resolutions. The figures below are the not to exceed amounts in the resolutions as written in the agenda packet. Whether each passed, and by what vote, awaits the minutes. Consent agenda items 2026-238 through 2026-255 are ordinarily adopted in one motion.
| Item | Amount | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Ordinance 26-24 | none stated | Vacates the cul-de-sac portion of San Road and a brook and drainage easement for the benefit of Block 86.01, Lot 30.01, The Hollows at Warren, carrying out the Planning Board's final major subdivision approval for Phase II, Case PB 22-04, memorialized September 12, 2022. The township engineer confirmed neither is needed for public use. Also on the adopted ordinances page this morning. |
| Resolution 2026-236 | $3,500,000 | Authorizes the administrator and engineer to submit the Resilient Communities Program grant application to the state Department of Community Affairs for the Maxwell Court and Cherry Tree Lane drainage project, after the public hearing held the same night. The application was the subject of last Monday's post. The comment period closes today. |
| Resolution 2026-237 | $8,585,307 | The bill list: $4,863,245 to the Warren Township Board of Education, $2,119,766 to Watchung Hills Regional High School, $505,572 for the sewer utility and $1,096,724 in township expenses. |
| Resolution 2026-240 | $9,000 | Communications and public relations support from Riverside Communications, October 1 through December 31, 2026. |
| Resolution 2026-241 | $150,000 | Sewer pumps and repairs from Central Jersey Pump of Matawan, through the North Jersey Wastewater Cooperative purchasing contract. |
| Resolution 2026-242 | $75,000 | Radios for the fire and police departments from Motorola Solutions under a state contract. |
| Resolution 2026-243 | $65,321 | Body cameras, video equipment and installation for the police department from Axon Enterprises under a state contract. |
| Resolution 2026-244 | $271,604 | A 2027 Freightliner 108SD dump truck with dump body, plow and spreader from Robert H. Hoover and Sons of Flanders. Bids were advertised August 8 and opened September 1, and Hoover's was the only one received. |
| Resolution 2026-245 | $125,000 | Furniture for Town Hall from Feigus Office Furniture of Wall under a state contract, replacing the August 20 award to BFI-Elizabeth at up to $135,000, which the resolution voids after updated quotes came in. |
| Resolution 2026-250 | none stated | A public auction of township vehicles and equipment on Thursday, October 22 at 11 a.m. at the Public Works garage: a 2015 Jeep Patriot, a 2018 Chevrolet Tahoe, a 2012 Chevrolet Tahoe, a 2007 Ford pickup, a 2008 Dodge Dakota, a Ford Explorer engine, an aerator, a walk behind blower and a brush hog. |
| Resolution 2026-254 | none stated | Appoints Brett Glinka a police officer, grade 11, effective today, September 28, contingent on the conditions in an August 26 letter from the administrator. |
| Resolutions 2026-239, 248 and 249 | none stated | Special event permits for the Warren Township Rescue Squad on October 17, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., at 6 Bardy Road, for Fadeville Barbershop on October 11, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at 165 Washington Valley Road, and for the Watchung Hills Elks on September 26 at 1 Elks Trail. |
| Resolution 2026-247 | none stated | Commits Warren to Somerset County's Journey Through the Past heritage weekend, October 10 and 11. |
The consent agenda also carried the cancellation of taxes for a totally disabled veteran, a stipulation of settlement in one residential tax appeal, and the release of six inspection fee escrows. Those involve individual property owners and are not itemized here.
The agenda listed presentations for William Sundburg, honored under the 7th Congressional District's Seniors of Distinction program, which Congressman Tom Kean Jr. presented to 24 seniors on September 22, according to WRNJ Radio, whose report says Mr. Sundburg served eight years as a member and president of the Warren Seniors Club and chairs the Senior Advisory Committee. Also listed were milestone recognitions for The Learning Experience and TD Bank, an honorable mention for Diva Vats in an America's 250th Anniversary essay contest, and a proclamation for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Awareness. Resolution 2026-238 marks the 25th anniversary of September 11 and names the four Warren residents who died that day: Keith Coleman, Brian Dale, Hashmukhrai Parmar and Sheryl Rosenbaum.
The executive session resolution lists six subjects by category only: a police interview, an employee grievance, contract negotiations with the Teamsters, litigation and contract matters on the Stirling Road affordable housing property, litigation on the Bridgewater sewer agreement, and land acquisition at Block 24, Lots 2 and 3. That last one is a different parcel from Round Top, and nothing else about it is public.
This week in Warren
It is a quiet civic week. Neither the Township Committee nor the Planning Board meets. The Board of Adjustment is next Monday.
Tonight the Warren Township Board of Education meets at 6:30 p.m. at Warren Middle School, 100 Old Stirling Road, per the district calendar. Central School takes school pictures today. Watchung Hills hosts a financial aid night webinar at 7 p.m. Today is also the last day for written comments on the drainage grant application, to Jason Cline at RVE, jason.cline@rve.com, with the subject line Public Comment, Resilient Communities Grant.
Municipal Court sits Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Susie B. Boyce Court Room, 44 Mountain Boulevard. The Angelo L. Tomaso PTO meets at 7 p.m.
Wednesday brings the first of two community vaccine clinics, 3 to 6 p.m. at the Warren Township Courthouse, 46 Mountain Boulevard, run by the Middle-Brook Regional Health Commission and Green Brook Family Medicine, with flu shots for ages 5 and up, senior flu for 65 and up, the Pfizer COVID vaccine for 12 and up, pneumonia vaccines for 50 and up and Tdap for 11 and up. Vaccines are free under most insurance plans, but the notice lists plans it does not accept, including all HMOs and NJ FamilyCare, so bring every card you have. Pre-registration is requested, and anyone under 18 needs a parent or guardian present. The township's own calendar lists the same day as a Flu Clinic from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the Susie B. Boyce Court Room, which is the same building, and I could not resolve the half hour difference in start time. The second clinic is October 21. Also Wednesday, Central School's kindergarten and first grade get fire truck visits, and Watchung Hills runs a flex day in the afternoon.
Thursday evening the Warren elementary PTOs hold their District Dad's Night Out at 7 p.m. at Sally G's, per the district calendar.
Friday, Mt. Horeb School holds its Family Music and Movie Night from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Watchung Hills football, now 2 and 3 after a 21 to 19 win at Hunterdon Central on Friday, plays at Summit at 7 p.m., according to the MaxPreps schedule. The next home game is October 9 against North Hunterdon.
Saturday, Watchung Hills hosts the SAT, and the Homecoming Dance runs 6 to 9 p.m. at 108 Stirling Road.
The general election ballot drop box is open at 46 Mountain Boulevard for vote by mail ballots, the township said Wednesday. Election Day is November 3, and Warren's ballot carries the non-binding $7.5 million Hofheimer house question explained here.
Roads
The Mountainview Road milling and paving between Round Top Road and Mount Bethel Road, which police said would begin on or about Friday, September 25 and run through Tuesday, September 29, is postponed. The Warren Township Police alert of Thursday at 2:06 p.m. and the township's notice of Wednesday both blame the weather and say a new schedule will be announced. None has been as of this morning, so if you use that stretch, expect the work to come with little notice.
The eastbound closure of Mountain Avenue between Old Stirling Road and Stirling Road, posted September 15 for utility repair, has had no follow up, and the department rarely posts reopenings. Somerset County's Stirling Road bridge between Community Place and Dillon Court stays closed for its replacement, with general traffic detoured on Mountain Avenue and Hillcrest Road. Both are on the Warren roads page.
The forecast
The National Weather Service point forecast for Warren, issued at 4:09 a.m. today, carries no watches or warnings. This weekend's nor'easter is leaving. Showers are likely this morning with north wind gusts to 25 mph, then the week dries out and warms into the upper 70s by Thursday.
| Day | Forecast | High | Low |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Showers likely, mainly before noon, 60 percent, north wind 5 to 10 mph with gusts to 25 mph | 63 | 54 |
| Tuesday | Mostly sunny, calm wind becoming northwest around 5 mph | 71 | 54 |
| Wednesday | Mostly sunny, calm wind | 75 | 58 |
| Thursday | Mostly sunny | 79 | 62 |
| Friday | Mostly sunny | 77 | 56 |
| Saturday | Partly sunny, chance of showers overnight, 30 percent | 69 | 54 |
| Sunday | Chance of showers, 40 percent, partly sunny | 68 | not given |
Next week and beyond
The Zoning Board of Adjustment meets Monday, October 5 at 7 p.m. in the Susie B. Boyce Court Room. No agenda is posted, and the last agenda the board published was for August 3. A Middlebrook Regional Commission meeting, as the township calendar titles it, is the same evening at 6 p.m. in the Union Village Conference Room at 46 Mountain Boulevard. Tuesday, October 6 brings Warren NJ in the American Revolution, The Spirit of Liberty, 6 to 8 p.m. in the court room. Curbside recycling runs Thursday, October 8, the Mini Dump opens Saturday, October 10 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 1 Bardy Road, and Somerset County's Journey Through the Past runs that weekend. Town Hall is closed Monday, October 12 for Columbus Day, and Warren's K-8 schools are closed to students that day for staff development.
The Planning Board meets Wednesday, October 14 at 7:30 p.m. Its September 23 agenda carried a single hearing: PB 26-02, Toll NJ I, LLC, 234 Mountain Avenue, Block 82, Lot 12.02, preliminary and final major site plan and minor subdivision. That is the inclusionary site in Warren's affordable housing settlement, 176 units with 55 affordable under the 2025 Fair Share Plan. What the board did on September 23 is not yet in the record, and it gets its own post when the minutes or a resolution appear.
The Township Committee's next meeting is Thursday, October 22 at 7 p.m., the same day as the 11 a.m. vehicle auction at the Public Works garage. The Open Space Advisory Committee meets Monday, October 19 at 6:30 p.m. in the library conference room, and the Environmental Commission meets Wednesday, October 21 at 7 p.m. The Middle-Brook Regional Health Commission's free rabies clinics start Saturday, November 7 at the Green Brook municipal building, then November 21 at the Finderne firehouse in Bridgewater and December 5 at the Watchung firehouse, each 9 a.m. start, no registration, pets at least six months old, cats in carriers and dogs leashed, per the township's notice posted this morning. All of these are on the Warren calendar.
The roll call on Ordinance 26-23 on Thursday, and anything said at the hearing, since the minutes are not yet approved and the township has not posted its highlights of the meeting. Whether every resolution listed above passed. What the township intends to do with the pools, courts and clubhouse, which nothing in the ordinance or the minutes addresses. The county's record of the parcel's acreage, since the 12 acre figure is the club's own. The date of the club's closure notice, which is undated on its website, and what its members decided at the July 27 special meeting, which I have only from a TAPinto headline. The start time of Wednesday's clinic, listed as 3 p.m. in the township's notice and 2:30 p.m. on its calendar. Whether Mountain Avenue eastbound has reopened. A new date for the Mountainview Road paving. Corrections are welcome at john@nexthomepremier.com.
- Township of Warren, Township Committee Regular Meeting agenda and packet, September 24, 2026, amended September 24, including Ordinances 26-23 and 26-24 and Resolutions 2026-235 through 2026-255. warrennj.org
- Township of Warren, Township Committee Regular Meeting minutes, August 20, 2026, approved September 24, 2026. warrennj.org
- Township of Warren, 2026 Adopted Ordinances, read September 28, 2026. warrennj.org
- Township of Warren, Ordinances Pending Adoption, read September 28, 2026. warrennj.org
- Township of Warren, Agenda Center, read September 28, 2026. warrennj.org
- Township of Warren, Planning Board Regular Meeting agenda, September 23, 2026. warrennj.org
- Township of Warren, Calendar, September and October 2026. warrennj.org
- Township of Warren, News Flash, Postponed, Mountain View Road Phase 2 Paving Notice, September 23, 2026. warrennj.org
- Township of Warren, News Flash, The Ballot Box is Open, September 23, 2026. warrennj.org
- Township of Warren, News Flash, 2026 Free Rabies Vaccination Clinics, September 28, 2026. warrennj.org
- Township of Warren, News Flash, 2026 Vaccine Clinics, September 2, 2026. warrennj.org
- Township of Warren, Grant Application, NJ DCA Resilient Communities Program, Maxwell Court and Cherry Tree Lane. warrennj.org
- Round Top Swim and Tennis Club, website, with the closure notice and facility description. roundtopswim.com
- TAPinto Warren, Warren's Round Top Swim and Tennis Club to Hold Special Meeting on Proposed Dissolution and Sale, headline and date only. tapinto.net
- WRNJ Radio, Congressman Kean honors 24 New Jersey seniors for community service at annual event, September 2026. wrnjradio.com
- Warren Township Police Department, Roadwork Alert, Mountainview Rd Milling and Paving, September 22, 2026, published through Nixle. nixle.us
- Warren Township Police Department, Paving and Milling Postponed, September 24, 2026, published through Nixle. nixle.us
- Warren Township Police Department alerts, published through Nixle. local.nixle.com
- Warren Township Schools, district calendar, September and October 2026. warrentboe.org
- Watchung Hills Regional High School, calendar. whrhs.org
- MaxPreps, Watchung Hills Regional football schedule and results. maxpreps.com
- National Weather Service, point forecast for Warren, NJ, issued 4:09 a.m. September 28, 2026. forecast.weather.gov
- OpenStreetMap, address record for 106 Mount Horeb Road, Warren Township, via Nominatim. openstreetmap.org
John Mangini
Broker / Owner, NextHome Premier
Warren Township resident and full time broker, licensed in New Jersey since 2002. Warren, Local. is written from live Garden State MLS data, township records and primary sources. Every figure is traceable to a source listed above.
