State of Bergen County address: Mental health, Route 17, master plan top to-do list

HACKENSACK — In his ninth State of the County address, County Executive James Tedesco highlighted past accomplishments while setting up future plans for education, affordability and quality-of-life improvements.

Tedesco spoke in front of crowd of about 100 county representatives and departments, in what was his first public address in three years due to the pandemic.

"The pandemic is over, businesses are growing and our lives are returning to normal in 2023," Tedesco said. "We will continue every effort to further bolster our strong foundation over the last eight years."

During the speech, which lasted just under 40 minutes, Tedesco promised to continue mental health services, provide resources to first responders and focus on the Route 17 bottleneck improvement project. Later in 2023, the county will also update the master plan, which was last adopted more than 60 years ago.

"By updating the living document, we will have an accurate big picture on how to move forward with future long-term planning," Tedesco said. "Now in my third term, I'm happy to report the county is strong and growing stronger each and every day, but the work is not done."

The full State of the County can be viewed in full on Facebook.

Here are some takeaways from Tedesco's speech:

Education

Work will officially begin later this year on a new county Career and Technical Education School. The new school will be in Paramus and will bridge the gap between high school and postsecondary plans to prepare students for their next steps, whether it's in a trade apprenticeship program or college.

Tedesco also praised Bergen Community College, calling it one of the "jewels in the crown of Bergen County." The college now offers two degree programs entirely online that were made possible through investments from the county to create a center for online learning.

He also vowed to continue a partnership with the college and small businesses. The partnership helps connect Bergen Community College students with small businesses to offer their newly obtained skills, in areas such as social media, applying for grants, product orders or website design.

"The program is one of a kind in the nation and helps students get real-world life experience using skills in the business world and help small businesses that don't know how or can't afford it," Tedesco said. "It's an innovative program and wonderful helping so many people. It's a great program, and we want to make sure we keep it going."

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Affordability

A workforce housing project will move forward this year. Tedesco emphasized that the county will break ground on a mixed-use apartment building for first responders including police, firefighters, nurses and teachers who are just starting their careers.

The project will be at 133 River St. in Hackensack and sit across the street from the newly constructed Print House.

Tedesco said the housing will help bring affordability to those who have just entered the workforce and are looking to put down roots.

"A new generation of skilled workers will be able to live in the county they work and be able to afford it," he said.

Another way to maintain affordability throughout the county, Tedesco said, is to continue shared service agreements with local municipalities, school boards and even neighboring counties.

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Parks

Despite the dense population of more than 1 million residents, the county has maintained and will continue to dedicate resources to parks and green space, Tedesco said.

"I'm really proud of the park system, and it's so important to the success of the county," he said. "We want to invest money into the parks because it gives the return to the people."

In the last decade, the county has distributed $30 million to towns to maintain open space, while investing another $60 million toward county-owned parks and recreation.

This year, expect work to begin at Saddle River County Park with the installation of new courts including pickleball in the Rochelle Park and Saddle Brook section, followed by improvements to the Glen Rock section.

Other upgrades will continue at Pascack Brook, Van Saun and Wood Dale parks, new bathrooms will be installed at all county golf courses, and a new ox exhibit will come to the Van Saun zoo.

"During Covid, parks were really the only place people could go, and that made a huge difference," Tedesco said. "When we look at moving forward, our parks will always continue to be in the forefront of my administration, because I believe they are so important to many aspects of our lives."

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: State of Bergen County address: Mental health, Route 17 on list