Joint Ceremony for Police and Fire Departments

On September 21st, the Township Police Department, Fire Department, and American Legion Post 59 joined together in a swearing in and recognition ceremony for police officers and firefighters for their outstanding service to our community and our country. As they had done with the police department this spring, the American Legion recognized members of the fire department who have served in the military. Thank you to Post 59 Chaplain Jim Cavanaugh, a longtime Township resident, for your partnership in helping recognizing our local heroes. You can see the full list of those who were sworn in and recognized here.

Township Committee Passes Campaign Finance Reform Measures and Establishes Best Practices for Hiring Professional Services

This summer, the Township Committee introduced and passed an ordinance further restricting the ability of large political donors from being hired as paid Township professionals. In September, the Township Committee passed a similar ordinance restricting large donors from being considered as redevelopers for future redevelopment proposals that may come before the governing body. Thank you to Committeeman Bud Ravitz for leading the governing body in this worthwhile endeavor.

Taking this initiative one step further, the Township Committee adopted a resolution codifying best practices already put in place by our governing body related to appointing professional services in Morris Township. As residents may know, each year the Township Committee has the ability to appoint professionals to support the work of the governing body, our land use boards, and our public servants in town hall. The resolution the governing body passed in September requires the Committee to conduct a Request for Proposal (RFP) process interviewing at least three candidates for the role at least 90 days prior to appointment. Thank you to Deputy Mayor Cathy Wilson for moving this initiative forward. You can read the resolution here.

Morris Township Welcomes Red Oaks 

If you’ve driven past St. Virgil’s recently, you probably noticed a new sign outside the school building. On September 18th, Deputy Mayor Wilson and I had the pleasure of welcoming the Red Oaks School to Morris Township. Through a partnership with St. Virgil’s, Red Oaks has opened its new Middle School Campus for grades 5 – 8. Red Oaks has made significant investments to the building for their new campus in Fairchild. We wish them nothing but the best in this school year and the many more to come.

Normandy Parkway Improvements

Earlier this summer, the Township presented the plans of the Normandy Parkway Improvement Project to the New Jersey Historic Site Council due to its location in a Historic District and was asked to provide additional information about the project for review. On September 15th, the Township received written approval from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to proceed with the project with the conditions that the Township would hire an Architectural Historian to document existing conditions along the roadway, design a sign panel to highlight the historic significance of the district and continue working with our Historic Preservation Commission, as needed. We anticipate sending this project to bid by November in order to receive state grant funding. You can read the approval letter here.

Completion of Sherman Avenue Reconstruction Project

Construction for the Sherman Avenue Reconstruction Project in Fairchild is nearing completion. This project provided much needed roadway, drainage, and pedestrian improvements to the Fairchild neighborhood, including new sidewalks as well as raised intersections to deter speeding. Thank you to our neighbors impacted by this project for their patience throughout construction.

Lost and Found: Our Summer Newsletter

You may have noticed our summer newsletter in your mailbox… this week.

Early this August, we sent our Summer Newsletter to the post office. After failing to receive the mailer during the normal timeframe for delivery, we reached out to the Postal Service for an update. Unfortunately, their update was that they could not locate our over 8,000 pieces of mail. While working to process our refund for the missing newsletter, the mailer miraculously appeared in mailboxes this week, seven weeks after being sent.

Thank you for reading my September newsletter. Please be sure to follow Morris Township by signing up for our Municipal Messenger, liking our Facebook page, and following us on Instagram.

Best,

Mark