Mayor Grayzel's 06/16/21 Township Committee Meeting Recap

July 20, 2021

Dear Neighbors,

Congratulations to our graduating 2021 High School students!! I was honored to attend this year’s MHS graduation ceremonies on a glorious June day. Teaching and learning during COVID was hard work throughout this unusual school year. The pandemic created many new challenges for all students, teachers, parents and school staff. I applaud the courage and perseverance exhibited by all.

Our monthly Township Committee will be held this Wednesday July 21 starting at 7:00pm. The agenda and login information can be found HERE. A recap of our June monthly meeting along with a link to the meeting video can be found below.

At the June monthly meeting, the Township Committee introduced an ordinance #21-21 to “opt out” of local retail sale and distribution of cannabis (per the referendum passed by the voters of our state last year). Each municipality in our state has the opportunity to opt-in or opt-out for being considered for the first set of cannabis licenses to be distributed by the state. Morris Township decided to take a “wait and see” approach to watch how this plays out in the handful of municipalities that are opting in to allow cannabis operations in their town. Most municipalities in our state took the opt-out route. The Legislative Standing Committee of the Township Committee, led by Deputy Mayor Mark Gyorfy, held an information session prior to our initial vote to provide background to the public and to explain our position. You can watch the video of that info session HERE.

In 2019 The Township Committee established a new Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) with a purpose to explore, study, and make advisory recommendations to the Township Committee on ways to improve travel, circulation and transportation modes to include walking, biking, driving, and parking in Morris Township. In November 2020 conducted a “Personal Mobility Survey” and over 700 residents responded to this survey. The Transportation Advisory Committee, led by Deputy Mayor Mark Gyorfy, recently presented the findings from the survey and their subsequent recommendations at a public meeting. You can view a recording of the meeting along with their presentation slides HERE.

The Morris Township Environmental Commission (EC) publishes a periodic newsletter. Read the latest update from the Environmental Commission HERE. (Spoiler alert -- their tip of the Month: Buy an “Insulating "Blanket" for your Water Heater.)

The Morris Township Summer Concert Series continues tomorrow night with a performance staring at 7:00pm at the gazebo. All concerts are family friendly and admission is free to the general public. Check the Morris Township website for updated information. The remaining concerts are as follows:

* July 20: Mike Zuko & Friends at 7pm

* July 27: October Rose at 7pm

* August 3: Mid-Life Crisis at 7pm

* August 10: Van Martin Productions at 6:30 pm

See the summer concert flyer for more info.

I urge all residents to sign up for Municipal Messenger notifications, which are an invaluable tool to receive updates and information about Morris Township. Please forward this email to your Morris Township neighbors and encourage them to sign up for our Municipal Messenger notifications by clicking here.

As always, if you have a question or comment to share with me, please email me at jgrayzel@morristwp.com. I would love to hear from you.

Sincerely,

Jeff Grayzel

Mayor, Morris Township

JUNE 16, 2021 MORRIS TOWNSHIP MEETING RECAP

The Morris Township Committee convened for their sixth virtual regular meeting of 2021 at 7:00 PM.

The full meeting agenda can be found here.

PROCLAMATION

Pride Month

DEDICATION OF CAPTAIN BRIAN J. MCNALLY FIELD

Field dedication will be on Saturday, June 19, 2021, 10:00am, at Freelan M. Green Park, Weathervane Drive.

EAGLE SCOUT RECOGNITION

Eagle Scout Nicholas Chin, Morristown Boy Scout Troop 228. To be presented on June 26, 2021, at the Eagle Scout Court of Honor Ceremony.

ORDINANCES-INTRODUCTION: Full list of Introductory Ordinances can be found here and will be heard for final passage on Wed, July 21, 2021.

ORDINANCES-PUBLIC HEARING & FINAL CONSIDERATION: Full list of Ordinances that were adopted can be found here.

RESOLUTIONS: The Committee took action on twenty-three (23) Resolutions, the full Resolution list can be found here.

WATCH THE MEETING VIDEO

If you missed our 6/16/21 Meeting you can watch the recording on the Township’s YouTube channel. View the entire meeting video or click the individual links below for various sections of the meeting.

00:00:30 - PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

00:01:10 - APPROVAL OF MINUTES

00:01:30 - DEDICATION OF CAPTAIN BRIAN J. MCNALLY FIELD

00:04:25 - EAGLE SCOUT RECOGNITION

00:05:45 - PROCLAMATION: PRIDE MONTH

00:09:10 - PUBLIC COMMENT ORDINANCES - PUBLIC HEARING AND FINAL CONSIDERATION

00:17:50 - 16-21 00:20:30 - 17-21 00:26:21 - 18-21

00:27:07 - 19-21 ORDINANCES - INTRODUCTION

00:27:35 - 20-21 00:29:00 - 21-21

00:41:45 - RESOLUTIONS

00:45:10 - GENERAL BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCES STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS 00:46:00 - CATHERINE J WILSON 00:51:30 - PETER MANCUSO 00:52:35 - BUDD RAVITZ 00:54:55 - MARK GYORFY 00:58:22 - JEFFERY GRAYZEL COMMENTARY BY TOWNSHIP COMMITTEE 01:01:36 - CATHERINE J WILSON 01:09:05 - PETER MANCUSO 01:11:14 - BUDD RAVITZ 01:15:24 - MARK GYORFY 01:17:25 - JEFFERY GRAYZEL

01:19:15 - PUBLIC COMMENT

01:25:07 - CONSIDERATION OF MONTHLY REPORTS

01:25:26 - CLAIMS FOR PAYMENT

01:26:33 - ADJOURNMENT

If you would like more detail than this recap provides, you can now watch complete video of the Township Committee meetings here.

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