Civil Municipal Magazine Aug 2023

173 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 8 “This was done for the toddlers and children at Pine Street Park,” said Russo, “which is cool.” Williams noted that Newton is going green. She cited local trail improvements, thanks to grant funding from Sussex County. Among the beneficiaries is the Sussex Branch Trail, which is a rail trail that is 20 miles long. Rail trails are shared-use paths that are constructed over the places where once railroads ran. “Right now,” said Williams, citing the County grant, “we’re connecting one of the last sections through the Thorlabs site.” She continued that Newton’s municipal government recently collaborated in a project with Rutgers University (located in Middlesex County, N.J.). With a $2 billion budget and some 70,000 students stretched out across multiple campuses, Rutgers has an enormous economic impact upon the entire state of New Jersey. And that project? As Williams explained, it was NEWTON, N. J . the creation of a rain garden on the campus of Sussex County Community College. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, a rain garden “is a depressed area in the landscape that collects rain water from a roof, driveway or street and allows it to soak into the ground. Planted with grasses and flowering perennials, rain gardens can be a cost-effective and beautiful way to reduce run-off from your property.” And according to The Township Journal, the new rain garden will manage some 197,103 gallons of run-off on an annual basis, keeping it from entering the headwaters of the Paulinskill River, a tributary of the Delaware River. Now with summer in full bloom, in more ways than one, the garden is very impressive with its many mature, blooming plants. It is an educational tool that benefit both students and guests alike. Williams also informed that another such rain garden was constructed in Memory Park. This is Newton’s largest park. Becoming a hub of tech-related jobs Elsewhere, said Russo, technology-related business is booming in Newton. “Atlantic Health is one of the largest medical systems in the state of New Jersey,” he said. The local hospital, Newton Medical Center,