HOPEWELL TWP: Municipality starts year with hiring spree to fill open positions

By Frank Mustac, Contributor
The municipality is actively seeking hires to fill open positions on the township’s staff., “We have advertised for several different positions,” said Paul Pogorzelski, the township’s administrator and engineer., One is a new position called “director of community development,” which requires the director to also be a New Jersey licensed professional engineer. The job essentially combines the position of community development coordinator with township engineer., Hopewell Township will need a a new municipal engineer when Mr. Pogorzelski retires at the end of 2017. Also, township’s coordinator of community development retired about one week ago., “The discussion has been to let’s make the engineer oversee all community development. So that’s how it’s been advertised,” Mr. Pogorzelski said., In addition to serving as municipal engineer, the director of community development will also serve as the township’s zoning officer; planning board secretary; and stormwater program coordinator, according to the published advertisement for the job., The director will also perform as liaison to the municipality’s Environmental Commission; Historic Preservation Commission; Green Team; and Deer Management Committee and all municipal departments., “We have other open positions, as well,” Mr. Pogorzelski said., The new position of administrative assistant will replace the position of executive administrative secretary., “We rewrote that job description,” he said., Administrative assistant will report directly to the township administrator. The scope of work includes “all administrative functions” and management of “social media and public relations.”, “We’re also still advertising for a director of the department of public works,” Mr. Pogozelski said. “We had been advertising and interviewing since the fall of 2016. We’re on a quest to find the right person for the job.”, Peter Van Hise, the former interim director of the department of public works (DPW), retired in mid-2016. He had replaced longtime DPW director Victor Silvestrov, who retired in 2015., Hopewell Township is also looking to hire a “general foreman” in the DPW. General foreman is a “supervisory position coordinating and directing foremen and crews,” according to the published advertisement for that job.