The Union Hotel is finally back

Good morning, Hunterdon. This is the first issue of the Scoop, a free weekly email about life in this county. Every Thursday morning, five minutes, useful. Let's get to it.

Nothing in this section is sponsored. When something is, I'll say so.

The Union Hotel is back. Flemington's 1814 landmark, across from the courthouse on Main Street, reopens this week after a decade of false starts. 100 rooms. Reservations opened for Thursday onward. Inside there's Jersey Prime, an Italian steakhouse with dry-aged beef and a raw bar, and a cocktail bar called J.P.'s Speakeasy. Next door at Courthouse Square: Fieldhouse Social, with duckpin bowling and golf simulators, and 206 apartments going up behind it. Downtown Flemington hasn't had a week like this since the Lindbergh trial.

The "leftover asphalt" crews are back. July is their season. It starts with a knock. A paving crew says they just finished a job down the road, they have extra hot asphalt, and they can do your driveway today at a steep discount. What you get is an inch of cheap mix over an unprepped base. It looks fine until winter. Then it crumbles. Police in Bernards Township have put out warnings about these crews, and a Milltown homeowner lost more than $10,000 to one. The protection takes 30 seconds: every home-improvement contractor in New Jersey has to show a state registration number (it starts with 13VH) on the truck, the estimate, and the contract. No number, no deal. Also walk away from: cash only, no written contract, out-of-state plates, a price way under $3 a square foot, and "you have to decide today."

Readington is rezoning for at least 733 new homes. The township doesn't have much choice. It's under a court-ordered affordable-housing obligation, and towns that don't comply lose the power to stop developers from building nearly anything. The biggest piece is about 69 acres rezoned for up to 500 townhouses and apartments, up to three stories tall. Traffic and school studies come next. If you live in Readington, those are the meetings to watch.

Two county roads are torn up through mid-August. Route 579/Quakertown Road in Franklin and Voorhees Corner Road in Raritan Township are both down to one lane for resurfacing and drainage work. Figure an extra 15 minutes.

Fiber internet arrived for 21,000 homes. Brightspeed finished its buildout in Flemington, Clinton, Frenchtown, and Lebanon. Multi-gig speeds in places that had one DSL option. West Amwell and Bethlehem Township are next, pending federal funding.

Weekend outlook: thunderstorms likely Saturday, low-to-mid 80s Sunday. Check before you drive to an outdoor one.

This week: Davis Heating & Cooling, Flemington. Master HVACR license 19HC00853300. Verified active in the state registry this week. ✓

Every week I check one local contractor's license. It takes ten minutes and it's the best predictor of who you can trust.

The library will pay your teen to read. Summer Reading runs through August 13 at every Hunterdon County Library branch. This year's theme is "Unearth a Story." Top teen readers win $50 gift cards to local businesses. Sign up at any branch or on Beanstack.

That's the first one. If it was useful, forward it to a neighbor.

See you next Thursday.

— Steve