At the Council Meeting on Tuesday, February 20th, several organizations and residents were recognized for their dedication and hard work in Fanwood. Pictured are the following:

  1. Former Councilman David Trumpp presented a check for $7,000 to the Fanwood Fire Company, its share of the annual Christmas tree sale shared by the Fanwood Lion’s Club, of which Trumpp is a member. Accepting the check were firefighter Rick Regenthal and Assistant Fire Chief Dave Zawodniak.
  2. Wesley Lewis, 12, received the Volunteer of the Month recognition of the Fanwood Mayor and Council for his work in support of the annual Go Red for Women’s Heart Health campaign. Lewis, who is being Bar Mitzvah’d in September, did his mitzvah project of spreading the word about heart disease in women, raising $350 for the American Heart Association and participating in the Go Red event at The Chelsea on February 2nd. Wesley was accompanied by his sister, Alana, and father Ian, who is sergeant of the Fanwood Rescue Squad. Wes was presented with a print of Fanwood’s historic train station by Councilman Tom Kranz.
  3. Before the meeting, the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Police Athletic League (PAL) presented the Fanwood Rescue Squad with a donation of $1,000 for the squad’s support of PAL football games last year. Pictured, left to right, Fanwood Police Chief Richard Trigo who is on the PAL board; Councilwoman Kathy Mitchell; PAL President Shawn Johnson; PAL Board Member and football coordinator Bruce Moran; Ed Winsor, president of the Fanwood Rescue Squad; EMTs Adam Miksis and Nick Tripodi; Councilman Tom Kranz, also a squad member.

In other business, Councilman Kranz, Chairman of the Council Administration and Finance Committee, announced that the Borough is establishing a non-profit entity to allow citizens to make tax-deductible contributions for various events that currently raise money ad hoc such as Fanny Wood Day and the Fanwood 5K race. NJ law makes such municipal-sponsored non-profits possible. Councilman Kranz reported that establishment of the non-profit could be a precursor to a proposed law currently in the state legislature that would allow such charitable contributions to be credited towards a citizen’s property taxes. The concept is still speculative and some believe it might not pass IRS muster. But state and local municipalities across America are looking for ways to mitigate the effects of the new tax federal law that allows a maximum of only $10,000 of state and local taxes to be deducted.

Kranz also said the Council will be moving forward with the next steps to put in place a plan to sell or lease its sewer system to a company that would maintain the sewers. Such an arrangement would ensure the sewer system stays in good repair while the Borough receives revenue for the sale or lease. In preparation for this, the sewer portion of the local tax levy will have to be broken out separately and charged to residents as a monthly or quarterly fee. This is seen as a necessary step to make the sale of the system more attractive.

Several members of the Council addressed the school shooting in Parkland, FL, last week, calling on legislators to look at all aspects of the conditions that continue to make these horrors possible, from new gun restrictions to new scrutiny of the mental health system and the failed systems that are already in place.