On Thursday, Village President Alex Torpey spoke with a group of graduate students at Rutgers Edward J Bloustein school of Planning of Public Policy. The event was organized by Rutgers Bloustein students who wanted to bring a local official's perspective to students in their planning program. Torpey spoke with about 30 graduate students about topics such as affordable housing challenges facing local governments, sustainability initiatives happening in South Orange, like complete streets and bike lanes, EV charging stations, LEED certifications for new developments and more, as well as emergency planning and preparedness efforts, especially in relation to planning and advocating for a more redundant power infrastructure. South Orange has recently taken the lead on advocating for solutions from the state legislature to help fix problems related to utilities response to Superstorm Sandy. Read more about that. Students asked questions and engaged in a long Q+A session about local planning initiatives, the role that the mayor plays in the planning process, what challenges exist to expanding public transit access at the local level, and the relationship between town development and Seton Hall University. Brandon McKoy, a South Orange resident and Bloustein student who co-organized the event said that "The event provided an excellent opportunity for students to gain...