Business View Magazine | November 2019

215 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2019 MANCHESTER TOWNSHI P , NEW JERSEY eight old inefficient boilers at the municipal, court, and police buildings with only five high- efficiency units; less cost to run and maintain, and we received about $80,000 in funding. In addition, we installed a solar thermal system to use the sun’s rays to heat the water for the police showers instead of a boiler. Those were all energy-related projects.” Manchester’s current population is 44,000 and climbing. Home to 25 planned senior communities, the demographic is older than average and the tax base is primarily residential. As part of Sustainable Jersey, the Township started reaching out to educate the public with a Green Day initiative. Gary Sylvester, Director of the Department of Inspections, Land Use and Planning, explains, “We’re big on local public education. It’s also a requirement for the stormwater regulations mandated by the state. So, we took that opportunity in 2009, to have our first Green Day and invited our residents out to that event to educate them on all the sustainable projects the Township was involved in. We also had about a dozen vendors on the cutting edge of going green there to help residents in the areas of reducing energy consumption in their home and vehicle. We’ve done several of these events and are looking to have more.” Veni adds, “We were the first municipality in Ocean County to be certified Bronze by Sustainable Jersey for two rounds (six years). We achieved Bronze status again, this year, making Manchester Township a sustainable community for twelve consecutive years. One of the key benefits for the municipality is we get the citizens involved. It all comes down to teaching and learning, and I believe it’s our responsibility to educate our residents in regards to simple conservations practices; for example, why you shouldn’t idle your vehicle. It is also important to educate the residents about water conservation because in the summer, our well pumps run 24 hours a day. By complying, it helps us reduce our water usage as it is a natural resource.” Manchester Township has partnered with Save Barnegat Bay and the town’s environmental