> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://blog.johnmangini.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Warren is applying to the state for a $3.5 million flood fix at Maxwell Court and Cherry Tree Lane, and the public hearing is Thursday at 7 p.m.
- URL: https://blog.johnmangini.com/week-ahead-september-21/
- Published: 2026-09-21T10:26:18.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-25T18:24:56.000Z
- Description: Hearing on the $3.5 million drainage grant Thursday at 7 p.m., comments through September 28. Both districts closed today. Harvest Festival Saturday, 10 to 4.
- Author: John Mangini
- Tags: Warren Local, Township, week ahead, roads, Schools, stormwater, flooding, #syn-fb, #syn-gbp, #syn-threads, #syn-nextdoor

RecordThe primary document, reported. [What the labels mean](https://blog.johnmangini.com/editorial-standards/)

Update, September 25, 2026

Saturday's Wagner Farm Arboretum Harvest Festival is cancelled because of the nor'easter. Details in [the festival post](https://blog.johnmangini.com/wagner-farm-harvest-festival-2026/).

The short answer

The Township Committee meets Thursday, September 24 at 7 p.m. in the Susie B. Boyce Court Room, 44 Mountain Boulevard, and the meeting carries the public hearing on Warren's application to the state Department of Community Affairs for construction money for the Maxwell Court and Cherry Tree Lane drainage project, which the township estimates at $3,500,000\. Written comments go to jason.cline@rve.com through Monday, September 28\. Both school districts are closed today for Yom Kippur. The Planning Board meets Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Curbside recycling runs Thursday. Wagner Farm Arboretum's first Harvest Festival is Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., free, rain or shine, and the Mini Dump opens the same morning, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 1 Bardy Road, checks only.

![The Township of Warren dais, a wood paneled bench with the state and township seals and flags, empty chairs, a lectern and rows of public seating.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f9/d2/f9d2e72e-65c9-4e98-ba1e-1a7bc528bfaa/content/images/2026/09/warren-township-dais-2026.jpg)

The Township of Warren dais. Photo: John Mangini.

![Map of Warren Township, New Jersey with pins on Maxwell Court and Cherry Tree Lane, east of Mount Bethel Road and north of Mountain Boulevard.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f9/d2/f9d2e72e-65c9-4e98-ba1e-1a7bc528bfaa/content/images/2026/09/map_maxwell_cherry.jpg)

Maxwell Court and Cherry Tree Lane sit east of Mount Bethel Road, north of Mountain Boulevard and the municipal complex. The township says the East Branch Middle Brook tributary passes under Mount Bethel Road and flows toward both streets. Pins are set from the OpenStreetMap records for each street. [Open Maxwell Court in Google Maps](https://maps.google.com/?q=40.6236494,-74.4964502&ref=blog.johnmangini.com). [Open Cherry Tree Lane in Google Maps](https://maps.google.com/?q=40.6201120,-74.4939040&ref=blog.johnmangini.com). Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

## Thursday: twenty years of water, and a plan to move it

Residents along Mount Bethel Road have flooded multiple times a year after major rain for the past two decades, the township says on the page it posted for the grant application, and Hurricane Ida is the storm it names. The water comes from the East Branch Middle Brook tributary, which starts upstream of Mount Bethel Road, a Somerset County road, passes beneath it through a 60 inch county culvert and continues toward Maxwell Court and Cherry Tree Lane. The township's consultant, RVE, put the drainage area at about 200 acres measured at Mountain Boulevard.

Warren commissioned an engineering study to find a fix that would not push the water onto anyone upstream or downstream. RVE finished the study and, the township says, has construction plans ready to build, along with the permits the work will need. What the township does not have is the money. It is applying to the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs Resilient Communities Program, which distributes federal disaster recovery block grant funds, to carry the project into construction. The preliminary construction estimate on the township page is $3,500,000\. The page also says the work would change flood risk near Mountain Boulevard beside the township center, not only on the two streets in the project name.

The program requires a public notice, a 14 day comment period and a public hearing. The hearing is Thursday during the Township Committee meeting at 7 p.m. in the Susie B. Boyce Court Room, 44 Mountain Boulevard. The comment period runs through Monday, September 28, and comments go by email to Jason Cline at RVE, jason.cline@rve.com, with the subject line Public Comment, Resilient Communities Grant. Partial site plans are linked from the township page, and I could not open them, so what the plans show is not described here.

The township has already spent on this. Ordinance 26-13, on this year's adopted list, amended a 2025 bond ordinance to add $100,000 for the Cherry Tree Lane drainage engineering feasibility study, according to its title on the township's 2026 Adopted Ordinances page. Thursday's hearing is about the next step, construction, and about whether the state pays for it.

Two ordinances given first reading on August 20 are still on the township's Ordinances Pending Adoption page: Ordinance 26-23, a bond ordinance appropriating $1,400,000 and authorizing $1,330,000 in bonds or notes for the acquisition of property the page identifies as Round Top, and Ordinance 26-24, which vacates a portion of San Road and a portion of an existing brook and drainage easement for the benefit of Block 86.01, Lot 30.01, The Hollows at Warren. Those descriptions are from the August 20 agenda. The ordinance documents themselves would not open for me, so nothing beyond those lines is reported here. As of this morning the Agenda Center carries no agenda for Thursday, so whether either ordinance comes up for adoption this week could not be confirmed. The August 20 agenda also carried Resolution 2026-207, authorizing a memorandum of understanding with Nouvelle, LLC and Pillar Care Continuum, Inc. for an affordable housing project on the township owned Stirling Road property, which the township's own highlights of the meeting describe as a framework for a 100 percent affordable project of at least 32 supportive needs units. That resolution still deserves its own post once its text is available.

## Today and Tuesday: schools closed, then court and a cooking class

Warren Township K-8 schools and Watchung Hills Regional High School are closed today for Yom Kippur. Both reopen Tuesday. Watchung Hills lists Tuesday as an assessment and homework free zone and a Day 1 in its rotation. Mt. Horeb School holds picture day Tuesday, and every Warren K-8 school gives the SEL CASEL survey that day, according to the district calendar.

Municipal Court sits Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Susie B. Boyce Court Room, and again Tuesday, September 29\. At noon Tuesday the Mayor's Wellness Campaign shares a free 30 minute cooking webinar with America's Grow-a-Row. Chef Shauna cooks with New Jersey sweet corn, which the township's notice says is still in season. Registration is through the Zoom link in the township's September 17 notice.

The township calendar lists no township office closure today, and I did not find a notice saying otherwise. If you need Town Hall today, call first. The offices are still at 3 Mountainview Road, where they moved in March after the Town Hall building was damaged.

## Wednesday: the Planning Board returns, and Central School opens its doors

The Planning Board meets Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in the Susie B. Boyce Court Room. Its September 9 meeting was cancelled, and the cancellation notice called September 23 tentative. The township calendar now lists it as a meeting. As of this morning the Agenda Center carries no agenda for it. The board's last posted agenda is for August 26.

Central School holds its Back to School Night on Wednesday. The district calendar lists the event without a time. Grades 3 to 5 across the K-8 district take iReady reading assessments Wednesday through Friday.

## Thursday: recycling, two back to school nights, thirty seats for short films, and tax help in two other towns

Curbside recycling runs Thursday. Warren's pickup is every other Thursday through Somerset County, and the following one is October 8.

Mt. Horeb School holds its Back to School Night from 6:30 to 8 p.m., with a book fair for parents from 6 to 7:45\. The Watchung Hills PTO holds a Meet and Greet the same evening, 6:30 to 8 p.m., at the Elks Pavilion, 1 Elks Trail, per the high school's calendar.

The Warren Township branch of the Somerset County Library System screens the Manhattan Short Film Festival Thursday from 6 to 9 p.m. in its program room at 42 Mountain Boulevard, and again Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The township calendar entry says each screening is limited to 30 people and sign up is through the library's event page. The library's own site would not return the event to me, so the details here are the township calendar's.

For homeowners chasing the ANCHOR, Senior Freeze or Stay NJ property tax relief programs, the office of Assemblyman Andrew Macurdy and the New Jersey Division of Taxation are holding two PAS-1 filing events Thursday, both outside Warren: 9:30 a.m. to noon at the DeCorso Community Center, 15 East 4th Street, New Providence, and 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the Middlesex Borough Recreation and Senior Center, 1400 Mountain Avenue, Middlesex. The township's September 10 notice says residents of all towns are welcome. The eligibility rules are the state's, not the township's, and the two events are the closest in person help the township has pointed to.

Then the Township Committee at 7 p.m., with the drainage hearing above. Meetings stopped streaming on Facebook in August, as [reported here](https://blog.johnmangini.com/meetings-leave-facebook/), and the township says they are broadcast on its website and the Access Channel.

## Friday: the mayor's walk has two start times, and the Warriors go to Flemington

Mayor Shaun Fine leads the last of the Mayor's Wellness Campaign's September walks Friday at East County Park, meeting near the information kiosk. The township's September 1 notice puts it at 6 p.m. The township calendar puts it at 10:15 a.m. I could not resolve the two, so check before you go. Angelo L. Tomaso School holds a movie night at 6:30 p.m.

Watchung Hills football plays at Hunterdon Central in Flemington at 6 p.m. Friday. The Warriors are 1 and 3 after a 55 to 24 loss at Somerville on September 18, according to the MaxPreps schedule, with home games next on October 9 against North Hunterdon.

## Saturday: the Harvest Festival and the Mini Dump, under a 40 percent chance of showers

Wagner Farm Arboretum's inaugural Harvest Festival and Artisan Market runs Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 197 Mountain Avenue. Admission is free and the arboretum says it runs rain or shine, which matters this week: the National Weather Service gives Saturday a 40 percent chance of showers and a high near 64\. The details, and the disclosure that NextHome Premier, my brokerage, is the presenting sponsor, are in the [September 14 post](https://blog.johnmangini.com/wagner-farm-harvest-festival-2026/).

The Mini Dump at the Public Works garage, 1 Bardy Road, opens Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., the second of its four fall dates. The others are October 10 and October 24\. Residents only, checks only, made out to the Township of Warren with the amount left blank for the attendant to fill in: $20 a car, $25 an SUV, $40 a small van or pickup, $60 a full size van, $80 a full size pickup. Clean white foam is accepted for recycling. The full list of what it will not take is in the [September 7 week ahead](https://blog.johnmangini.com/week-ahead-september-7/).

## Roads

The most recent Warren Township Police alert is from Tuesday, September 15 at 11:33 a.m.: Mountain Avenue eastbound closed between Old Stirling Road and Stirling Road for utility repair, with school bus traffic not affected. The alert gave no end date and no reopening has been posted since. The department posts closures as they open and rarely posts the reopening, so treat the stretch as possibly closed rather than as closed. The westbound closure between Dahlia Drive and King George Road [reported here on September 3](https://blog.johnmangini.com/mountain-avenue-closed-dahlia-king-george/) has had no follow up either.

The Stirling Road bridge between Community Place and Dillon Court, closed by Somerset County on August 3 for a full replacement the county described as about five months of work, stays closed. General traffic detours on Mountain Avenue and Hillcrest Road. Both closures are on the [Warren roads page](https://blog.johnmangini.com/warren-roads-2026/).

## Your ballot may be in the mail

New Jersey county clerks begin mailing vote by mail ballots 45 days before an election, and the state Division of Elections lists Saturday, September 19 as that date for the November 3 general election. Voters with a standing mail-in request on file with the Somerset County Clerk should watch the mailbox. The deadline to apply for a mail-in ballot by mail is October 27, and in person at the county clerk's office it is 3 p.m. on November 2\. Warren's ballot carries the non-binding $7.5 million question on the Hofheimer house, [explained here in August](https://blog.johnmangini.com/hofheimer-house-ballot-question/). Early voting runs October 24 through November 1, and the dates are on the [Warren calendar](https://blog.johnmangini.com/calendar/).

## The forecast

The National Weather Service point forecast for Warren, updated at 4:09 a.m. today, carries no watches or warnings. It is a cool week. No day reaches 70.

| Day       | Forecast                                                                 | High | Low       |
| --------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ---- | --------- |
| Monday    | Partly sunny, northeast wind 5 to 10 mph, chance of showers after 2 a.m. | 69   | 52        |
| Tuesday   | Chance of showers before 2 p.m., 50 percent, mostly cloudy               | 62   | 50        |
| Wednesday | Mostly cloudy, northeast wind 10 to 15 mph                               | 63   | 49        |
| Thursday  | Mostly cloudy                                                            | 63   | 49        |
| Friday    | Chance of showers, 40 percent, mostly cloudy                             | 63   | 51        |
| Saturday  | Chance of showers, 40 percent, partly sunny                              | 64   | 52        |
| Sunday    | Mostly sunny                                                             | 67   | not given |

The forecast page gives no overnight low for Sunday.

## Next week and beyond

Monday, September 28 is the last day for comments on the drainage grant application. The same evening the Warren Township Board of Education meets at 6:30 p.m. at Warren Middle School, 100 Old Stirling Road, with a Zoom option, per the district site. The August 25 post on the district's [plan for a grades 4 and 5 school](https://blog.johnmangini.com/warren-schools-planning-for-growth/) set out what that board has been weighing. Central School takes school pictures that day, and the Angelo L. Tomaso PTO meets Tuesday, September 29 at 7 p.m.

![The Warren Middle School sign, blue with gold lettering and a line reading Presented by the Class of 1995, on white posts in a lawn beside a spruce.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f9/d2/f9d2e72e-65c9-4e98-ba1e-1a7bc528bfaa/content/images/2026/09/warren-middle-school-sign.jpg)

The Warren Middle School sign. Photo: John Mangini.

The community vaccine clinic is Wednesday, September 30\. The township's notice says 3 to 6 p.m. at the Warren Township Courthouse, 46 Mountain Boulevard, with flu, senior flu, COVID, pneumonia and Tdap shots, pre-registration requested and some insurance plans not accepted. The township's main calendar lists a Flu Clinic the same day from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the Susie B. Boyce Court Room, the same building. A second clinic follows October 21.

Watchung Hills hosts the SAT on Saturday, October 3 and its Homecoming Dance that evening, 6 to 9 p.m., at 108 Stirling Road. The Zoning Board of Adjustment, which has no September meeting in the Agenda Center, is next listed for Monday, October 5\. And the Municipal Alliance's Jack Walsh Great Pumpkin Certified 5K is Saturday, October 31 at Mobus Field in Watchung, 9 to 11 a.m., $25 a person, online registration required, with a T-shirt for anyone registered by October 7\. Proceeds support mental health and substance use prevention programs, per the township's September 14 notice.

What I could not verify

What the drainage plans show: the township links partial site plans, and the link would not open for me. Whether Ordinances 26-23 and 26-24 are up for adoption Thursday, since no agenda was posted this morning, and the text of both ordinances, whose documents would not open. Whether township offices are open today, which no notice addresses. The time of Central School's Back to School Night, which the district calendar lists without one. The mayor's walk on Friday, listed at 6 p.m. in the township's notice and 10:15 a.m. on its calendar. The Manhattan Short screenings, which I have from the township calendar because the library's own site would not return the event. Whether Mountain Avenue eastbound has reopened, since the police alert of September 15 carried no end date and no follow up has been posted. The township page prints its construction estimate with a stray period in the middle of the number, and I have read it as $3,500,000\. Corrections are welcome at [john@nexthomepremier.com](mailto:john@nexthomepremier.com).

Sources

1. Township of Warren, Grant Application, NJ DCA Resilient Communities Program, Maxwell Court and Cherry Tree Lane Drainage Improvement Project. [warrennj.org](https://www.warrennj.org/675/Grant-Application--NJDACAs-Grant-Applica?ref=blog.johnmangini.com)
2. Township of Warren, NJDCA Grant Application public notice, September 14, 2026\. [warrennj.org](https://www.warrennj.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=689&ref=blog.johnmangini.com)
3. Township of Warren, Township Committee Meeting, September 24, 2026, calendar entry. [warrennj.org](https://www.warrennj.org/Calendar.aspx?EID=2703&ref=blog.johnmangini.com)
4. Township of Warren, Township Committee Regular Meeting agenda, August 20, 2026\. [warrennj.org](https://www.warrennj.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/%5F08202026-1002?ref=blog.johnmangini.com)
5. Township of Warren, August 20th Township Committee Meeting Highlights, August 28, 2026\. [warrennj.org](https://www.warrennj.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=677&ref=blog.johnmangini.com)
6. Township of Warren, Ordinances Pending Adoption. [warrennj.org](https://www.warrennj.org/331/Ordinances-Pending-Adoption?ref=blog.johnmangini.com)
7. Township of Warren, 2026 Adopted Ordinances. [warrennj.org](https://www.warrennj.org/618/2026-Adopted-Ordinances?ref=blog.johnmangini.com)
8. Township of Warren, Agenda Center, read September 21, 2026\. [warrennj.org](https://www.warrennj.org/AgendaCenter?ref=blog.johnmangini.com)
9. Township of Warren, Calendar, September 2026\. [warrennj.org](https://www.warrennj.org/Calendar.aspx?ref=blog.johnmangini.com)
10. Township of Warren, Planning Board, September 23, 2026, calendar entry. [warrennj.org](https://www.warrennj.org/Calendar.aspx?EID=2801&ref=blog.johnmangini.com)
11. Township of Warren, Manhattan Short Film Festival Screening, September 24, 2026, calendar entry. [warrennj.org](https://www.warrennj.org/Calendar.aspx?EID=2997&ref=blog.johnmangini.com)
12. Township of Warren, Virtual Cooking Class, September 17, 2026\. No longer posted on warrennj.org.
13. Township of Warren, September Wellness Walks, September 1, 2026\. [warrennj.org](https://www.warrennj.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=678&ref=blog.johnmangini.com)
14. Township of Warren, property tax relief PAS-1 filing events, September 10, 2026\. [warrennj.org](https://www.warrennj.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=685&ref=blog.johnmangini.com)
15. Township of Warren, Warren Township Mini Dump notice, September 4, 2026\. [warrennj.org](https://www.warrennj.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=683&ref=blog.johnmangini.com)
16. Township of Warren, 2026 Vaccine Clinics, September 2, 2026\. [warrennj.org](https://www.warrennj.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=681&ref=blog.johnmangini.com)
17. Township of Warren, 2026 Jack Walsh Great Pumpkin Certified 5K Run and Walk, September 14, 2026\. [warrennj.org](https://www.warrennj.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=690&ref=blog.johnmangini.com)
18. Township of Warren, Temporary Relocation of Municipal Offices Following Building Damage, March 16, 2026\. [warrennj.org](https://www.warrennj.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=566&ref=blog.johnmangini.com)
19. Warren Township Schools, district calendar and news, September 2026\. [warrentboe.org](https://www.warrentboe.org/?ref=blog.johnmangini.com)
20. Watchung Hills Regional High School, calendar. [whrhs.org](https://www.whrhs.org/fs/pages/2902?ref=blog.johnmangini.com)
21. MaxPreps, Watchung Hills Regional football schedule and results. [maxpreps.com](https://www.maxpreps.com/nj/warren/watchung-hills-regional-warriors/football/schedule/?ref=blog.johnmangini.com)
22. Warren Township Police Department alert, Mountain Avenue eastbound, September 15, 2026, published through Nixle. [nixle.us](https://nixle.us/HMA9K?ref=blog.johnmangini.com)
23. Warren Township Police Department alerts, published through Nixle. [local.nixle.com](https://local.nixle.com/warren-township-police-department/?ref=blog.johnmangini.com)
24. New Jersey Division of Elections, Vote by Mail, 2026 dates. [nj.gov](https://www.nj.gov/state/elections/vote-by-mail.shtml?ref=blog.johnmangini.com)
25. National Weather Service, point forecast for Warren, NJ, updated 4:09 a.m. September 21, 2026\. [forecast.weather.gov](https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lat=40.6315&lon=-74.5093&ref=blog.johnmangini.com)

Warren reference pages

- [The Warren calendar](https://blog.johnmangini.com/calendar/)
- [Government and budget](https://blog.johnmangini.com/warren-government-and-budget/)
- [Warren schools](https://blog.johnmangini.com/warren-schools/)
- [Zoning and development](https://blog.johnmangini.com/warren-zoning-and-development/)
- [Warren by the Numbers](https://blog.johnmangini.com/warren-by-the-numbers/)
- [Living in Warren](https://blog.johnmangini.com/living-in-warren-nj-07059-guide/)
- [Homes for sale in Warren](https://blog.johnmangini.com/warren-nj-homes-for-sale/)

![John Mangini](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f9/d2/f9d2e72e-65c9-4e98-ba1e-1a7bc528bfaa/content/images/size/w200/2026/08/john-headshot.jpg) 

John Mangini

Broker / Owner, NextHome Premier

[![NextHome Premier](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f9/d2/f9d2e72e-65c9-4e98-ba1e-1a7bc528bfaa/content/images/2026/08/nexthome-premier-stacked.png)](https://www.nexthomepremier.com/?ref=blog.johnmangini.com) 

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.

[732.236.1087](tel:+17322361087) [john@nexthomepremier.com](mailto:john@nexthomepremier.com) [102 Town Center Drive, Warren](https://maps.google.com/?q=102+Town+Center+Drive,+Warren,+NJ+07059&ref=blog.johnmangini.com) 

[JohnMangini.com](https://www.johnmangini.com/?ref=blog.johnmangini.com) [Reviews on Zillow](https://www.zillow.com/profile/John%20Mangini?ref=blog.johnmangini.com) [About this site](https://blog.johnmangini.com/about/)