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PUBLISHED BY TEANECK VOICES
Managing Editor, Bernard Rous
The Teaneck Environmental Commission
Greenwashing by Teaneck Council
Aggregated Clean Energy Project Update
Ban Unsafe Oil Trains
Not Now - Wait
Teaneck's DPW Recycle Facility
Notable Women of Teaneck
  • Kasai Sanchez
Voter Registration Information
The Week That Was
Upcoming Municipal Meetings
Events at the Library
One Town One Vote Resident Survey

COVID Updates
  • Rapid Home COVID tests from the Post Office
  • Rodda Center
  • New Library Covid Policy

Announcements
  • Town Hall: Let's Get the Facts About 1425 Teaneck Road
  • Pride Month
  • Oil Train Safety Rally and Memorial
  • New Jersey State Updates
  • Prayers and Support for Ukrainian People
  • Support Teaneck Voices

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TEANECK ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION
According to the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions (ANJEC), Environmental commissions research many issues, including:

  • energy efficiency, conservation and transportation
  • smart growth
  • recycling and environmental cleanup
  • open space preservation and wildlife
  • wetlands and water resource protection
  • green infrastructure

Environmental Commissions advise local governments, inform the public, advocate for sound environmental policies. and act as watchdogs for environmental opportunities and challenges.

The Teaneck Environmental Commission elaborates on some of these purposes:

  • It is responsible for maintaining the Environmental Resource Inventory (ERI) - an index of all open areas, publicly or privately owned
  • It recommends programs for the development and use of such areas to the Planning Board for inclusion in the Town's Master Plan
  • Its purview includes open space preservation, water resources management, air pollution control, solid waste management, noise control, soil and landscape protection, environmental appearance, marine resources and protection of flora and fauna
  • With Council approval, it may acquire property on behalf of the town
  • The Commission promotes actions by the town, residents and businesses, that enhance environmental sustainability, including recycling, energy efficiency, and best practices in construction and landscaping

The Teaneck Environmental Commission is a statutory board. It has an advisory function, but it is not one of Teaneck's advisory boards. It has very important responsibilities and quite a workload.

Teaneck has been very fortunate to have many talented, hard-working residents serve on the Environment Commission. Such remarkable leaders as Harry Kissileff, Aryeh Meir, Bettina Hempel-Gilbert, and Phillip Rhodes have chaired the Commission since 2016, and Yosef Gillers serves as the current chair.

It is therefore doubly unfortunate that the current Council of Teaneck and Planning Board have so often failed to heed the advice of the Teaneck Environmental Commission. In some cases Council has approved programs but never bothered to implement them. Many others have been altogether ignored, many because the liaison from Council, Keith Kaplan, failed to bring them forward for discussion.

The Planning Board is required to have a representative on the Environmental Commission but for some years has been so disinterested environmental issues that it failed to provide one. This glaring omission was rectified with the appointment of Yehuda Kohn in July of 2021 and we sincerely hope it will positively affect the reception of the Commission's recommendations.

The demoralization and frustration of hard-working volunteers on the Teaneck Environmental Commission can be heard in this letter of resignation sent to the Town Manager and Mayor one year ago by past-chair Phillip Rhodes:

"Dear Dean and Jim,

Over the last few weeks I have sent several e-mails and left several voice mails for Dean. Unfortunately I have had no response. My specific questions regarding open space acquisition and the use of MOST funds and PSEG compensation money have been ignored. My questions about the replacement of the one and only roller blading rink removed from Votee Park etc. have all been ignored. And our Council Rep has tried over and over again to undermine our efforts.

This is not the way the Township should treat its residents, let alone its volunteers, let alone the Chair of the Township’s Environmental Commission.

The many initiatives the Env. Comm. has recommended over recent years have been dismissed despite our continued lobbying . These initiatives have included:

  1. Acquisition of open space. Even when matching monies were available. The EC made many specific recommendations not one of which was followed up on.
  2. Getting high density developers to include or contribute open space and or public access recreational space as part of their projects as a means for securing zoning variances.
  3. Increased tree planting to aid in carbon capture.
  4. Initiatives to preserve wet lands and reduce rain run off.
  5. Suggestions for lowering the Townships energy usage by an aggressive switch to LED lighting and improved insulation and window reflection all aided by an energy consultant at no cost to the Township.
  6. Implementation of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan.
  7. Approval of the OSRP [Open Space and Recreation Plan]
  8. Update of the ERI [Environmental Resource Inventory]
  9. Ordinances on plastic bags, auto and truck idling, tree removal, back yard fire pit smoke, leaf blower noise, etc.
  10. The EC's plan to Improve the trash pick up method and to reduce truck traffic by having only one collector for any given street.
  11. Implement the Complete Streets with safety and esthetic improvements as part of every and all street repaving projects. 10% of the projects cost was to be applied for these improvements.

This list is far from complete. I laud the efforts and praise the dedication, intelligence and civil mindedness of all the EC members.

I have come to the realization that my efforts are not appreciated and therefore resign from the EC and MOST.

Sincerely,
Philip Rhodes"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The critical work of the Teaneck Environmental Commission can benefit Teaneck only if the Planning Board appoints a member (which it now has) and the Council and Planning Board fully and seriously discuss the plans and programs recommended by the Commission.
GREENWASHING BY TEANECK COUNCIL
by BETTINA HEMPEL
On July 2018, the Teaneck Plastic Bag Ordinance was to go into effect. Stop & Shop had put together a series of posters to explain to shoppers the benefits of the ban. But instead the Township Manager issued this press release the day of the start of the ban.

It implied that if the State did not pass laws that superseded local bans on October 1st, our Township ordinance should still go into effect. But it didn’t.

Back in July 2017, when the ordinance was passed, the girl scouts had been the lead advocates to the Plastic Bag Ordinance, and then mayor Hameeduddin praised them endlessly for their advocacy. The ordinance was to go into effect a year after it was adopted, and when Councilman Sohn asked for details of how it would be implemented and enforced, he was told that it wouldn't be. The argument was that the State was considering legislation of its own that might well conflict with the Township's ordinance.

After the deadline of the plastic bag ban came and went, the girl scout troupe that originally proposed the plastic bag ban, attended Council meetings once again, to explain that there was no conflict between Teaneck’s plastic bag ordinance, and a future State ban. Over a dozen New Jersey towns had already implemented their own ordinances–the Paramus Plastic Bag and Styrofoam Ban went into effect in January 2020.

So Teaneck Council passed an ordinance for which there was never any intention of implementation or enforcement.

It’s a shame, because Teaneck residents have shown on multiple occasions that they care about the environment, the latest example being the clean energy option that was voted on last November, and against which the Township fought in court to keep it off the ballot. Clean energy, increasing voter turnout in elections - why is our Township Council majority against such initiatives, when residents are clearly in favor?
AGGREGATED CLEAN ENERGY FOR TEANECK UPDATE
TUESDAY, JUNE 28
HEAR A PRESENTATION ABOUT TEANECK’S COMMUNITY CHOICE AGGREGATION (CCA) PROGRAM
The Teaneck Council voted to hire Gable Associates as a consultant for Teaneck’s Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) program.

On Tuesday, June 28, a representative from Gable Associates will present information about the CCA program at the Teaneck Council meeting. The meeting will be both in person and virtual. The consultant will provide information to residents on an ongoing basis.

Spearheaded by Paula Rogovin, a proposal to have the entire town of Teaneck switch to sustainable, clean energy was brought to Council. It fell on deaf ears. Eventually, with the collaboration of One Town One Vote and Food and Water Watch of New Jersey, efforts by the Council to thwart a referendum were overcome in court. Residents voted overwhelmingly for Teaneck to provide a program for clean, renewable energy. The court ordered that Teaneck implement the CCA program with the goal of providing electricity from renewable energy sources starting on November 1.
RALLY: REMEMBER LAC-MEGANTIC, SUPPORT RAIL SAFETY LEGISLATION, SUPPORT FOSSIL FUEL MORATORIUM, HONOR JANET GLASS
Letter from Paula Rogovin 
Dear Friends,

On July 6 our communities will once again mark the anniversary of the tragedy at Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, when a train carrying volatile Bakken crude oil derailed and exploded like a bomb, killing 47 children and adults and destroying the downtown.

As you know, trains carrying Bakken crude and other hazardous materials travel through towns and cities here in New Jersey, putting us at great risk. We will call for the passage of the Oil Train Safety Bill, first introduced by Senator Loretta Weinberg.

The bill was recently reintroduced by Assemblywoman Ellen Park. We will join organizations around the state in calling for a moratorium on new fossil fuel projects. In addition, we will honor and remember Janet Glass, a friend and fellow activist, who died in April.

The sponsors of the rally are the Coalition to ban Unsafe Oil Trains, Food and Water Watch, NJ, Bergen Circle GreenFaith, 350 NJ-Rockland, Hackensack Riverkeeper, The Social Action Committee of Temple Emeth, League of Women Voters, Teaneck, Waterspirit, Environment NJ.

Other sponsors are welcome. Send to: coalitiontobanunsafeoiltrains@gmail.com

We hope that your organization will be among the co-sponsors of the rally which will take place from 5-6 pm. The rally will be Cedar Lane, on the bridge above the CSX rail tracks. See the attached flyer for more details. Gilbert Carette, from Lac-Mégantic will be among the speakers.

Co-sponsoring organizations will be added to the flyer and other publicity. They will also be asked to help publicize the rally and invite others to participate.

Sincerely,
Paula Rogovin, Coalition to Ban Unsafe Oil Trains
NOT NOW - WAIT
Not Now - Wait is the Mantra of Too Little - Too Late

Teaneck’s Township’s property ownership almost invariably does too little, too late – perhaps to the extent of negligence?

Teaneck residents were promised all Spring that the Votee Park pool would open on time this summer – on June 18. But the latest website notice hopes for a July 1 opening. The Manager told Council on June 14 that he still hoped to prolong the life of the current Votee pool through the summer of 2023, when he wants to spend $3M on a new pool.

But last week the whispering among Recreation staff is that the pool may not be able to open at all in 2022. Will that lead to some mad mid-summer rush to define – again - some new deal with the Teaneck Swim Club – whose property is, in fact, leased from the Town?
The Rodda Center roof and façade is finally done, but surely cost taxpayers more than double what it would have cost if it had been done a decade earlier. But for 10 years that funding just never survived the capital account cuts.

There was better news this week as the Rodda Center finally got its air conditioning back so the senior center and gyms are now tolerable. That means that today’s Rodda Center community meeting to discuss the impending start of the 1425 Teaneck Road senior affordable housing facility, which is broadly opposed by the site’s neighbors, can proceed.

This town-owned 1425 Teaneck Road site was once a teen recreation center. After serious neglect, it became an off-site DPW workshop and dumping ground. Then in 2019, the Town defined it as blighted.

Many in the community want to know why this neglected property cannot be a recreation center again, especially since much of the promised development on nearby State Street has failed to materialize, leaving great gaps. It is here that the $900K in affordable housing dollars the Town has pledged to the 1425 for-profit developer could help secure a better senior affordable housing facility.
Slow down as you drive south past Andreas Park on River Road as you approach W. Englewood Avenue. Do you see that building to your right? It was once a beautiful carriage house. Had it been cared for and renovated, it could have become a wonderful town-meeting place.

The park was donated by the Andreas family to the Town in 1951 and the carriage house has subsequently been left simply to deteriorate to its current irretrievable state.

From these few examples, it appears that the Township really needs a plan to manage what it owns. In 2019, Council leadership began promising just such a plan, with the aid of expertise from Rutgers. But it never materialized.

Council members endlessly talk of a plan for town-wide park upgrades, but real park renovation remains limited to Votee and Phelps.

Teaneck’s Council has recently been designating many properties as blighted areas in need of redevelopment as a way to avoid Master Plan zoning regulations and transparent land use decision-making. It is one of the great current ironies that 6 of the 9 new areas it wants to declare as blighted are – in whole or significant part – actually owned by the Town itself.

Can Teaneck leadership – as it endlessly touts 0% tax increases – name any more negligent property owner than the Township itself? Is this criticism too harsh? Read the next article which takes a deeper look at the 1600 River Road DPW recycle facility.
TEANECK'S DPW RECYCLE FACILITY
The Sad, Sad 60-year Story of a Town Not Managing its DPW Recycle Facility

Active Design Group Engineering evaluated the large bulging main DPW concrete building a second time in August of 2019 and reported:

“ADG has noticed that no remediation work was done for the existing areas with structural issues which were reported in our previous report dated Nov. 20, 2017, except for the temporary bracing frame that was installed at the south wall of the building. Until the main cause of the current structural condition is identified, the structural condition of the building must be monitored and evaluated on and on to identify any further changes to observed condition. In case of any evidence involving individual safety, the proper action must be taken, and building must be evacuated."

After another year and five months, a Town engineer stated that some temporary emergency stabilizing work had been done but the building continued to require close monitoring (Click Here & move the cursor to 2hr and 16min). He went on to advocate that Council approve Resolution 271-2020 that endorsed moving the facility to a location in Overpeck Park II. That idea has apparently, like all its predecessors, been abandoned, since Council approved steps to explore still one more alternative location at its June 14, 2022 meeting.

2022 marks 60 years since Teaneck officially acknowledged that something really had to be done about the municipally-owned DPW facility at 1600 River Road.

Early History of the DPW
Three years after the legendary Werner Schmid became Town Manager, the advice of the General Development Plan of 1962 was incorporated into the 1963 Master Plan. It specifically recommended the new facility be constructed on Windsor Road (where Avalon now sits) and that construction should begin in 1968.

“The existing facilities on River Road need to be replaced and expanded. It is recommended that a new facility be constructed at the northern end of Windsor Park.”

Two years later Schmid’s correspondence shows that he was being pushed to explore other options (for example, one where the Rodda Center now sits) and by 1967 he was citing a new architectural study that included those two locations but now included the existing River Road location as a third (Click Here to see the letters).

What happened then? Simply put, when Schmid retired 22 years later in 1989, no DPW facility decision had been made and the site’s environmental and safety challenges were growing.

In the intervening years, the Town has begun repeated initiatives only to abandon them:

  1. to explore and then study and then discard new alternative in-Town locations for the facility
  2. to formally create major capital programs to support a new facility but then formally withdraw those financial commitments
  3. to start but quickly discontinue patch-work renovations galvanized by regulatory and liability compulsion that were focused on acute risks without clarifying the underlying source of the problem, let alone addressing it

An outline of DPW's history over the last two decades

In 2006, engineer David Hals developed a conceptual plan for Teaneck to have a single facility able to accommodate the workshop and storage at 1425 Teaneck Road by moving it to 1600 River Road.

Several years later that plan led to an explicit $4M capital plan continuously defined in the Town’s Annual Financial Statements (AFS) as line item 3604 “Construction of New DPW Building”. But every year the Town spent a small portion until 2012 when the Township did a major restructuring of its debt and that “DPW building” line item simply disappeared.

By early 2016, both a major diesel spill and a slumping building at the facility refocused Council attention on reaching a DPW decision. Deputy Manager Schwartz suggested that a 5.6 acre former County Police site in Hackensack would be perfect and that it would be a win-win for the County to donate it to Teaneck. Council concurred but the idea was dead when Hackensack quickly suggested that Teaneck keep its waste on its side of the river. (That site drew a $10M developer at the County auction who turned it into a 377-unit residential facility.)

But pressure was quickly building on Council to decide something. Paradoxically, that pressure was generated by decisions made by the Council itself in 2015 and the Planning Board in 2016. These decisions committed the Town to a deal with developer Avalon, permitting them to proceed with its proposed 248-unit residential facility on the exact same Windsor Road footprint that the 1963 Master Plan had recommended for the new DPW site 53 years earlier. So that “move it” option disappeared.

Council then scheduled a full review of all DPW options at its December 2016 retreat. Presentations by Planner Preiss and extensive discussion with Manager Broughton and DPW Director Wilson again narrowed the in-Town options. Only the 6.4 acre Haluba site at 520 Palisade emerged as still viable (Click Here for the full minutes of that discussion).

But at the same time, the Town was also under pressure to reach a Court-approved accord with the Fair Share Housing Center as to what sites it would zone for a specific affordable housing component in new multi-family facilities. And Holuba was the site with the most affordable potential.

So, by March 2019 Holuba was legally no longer a DPW site possibility. Thus the current site was the only one left standing. And Council formally acknowledged in the spring of 2019 that 1600 River Road was a blighted Area in Need of Redevelopment.

As all viable “other location” options disappeared, bad news was coming from the site itself. Less than a month after the Council retreat, evidence emerged that the DPW building was in danger of collapsing. It was unsafe and required emergency review and intervention even though the cause was not clearly specified; foundation disintegration was suspected.

And Council recognized it also had to authorize both limited and site-wide environmental assessments. A data miner from the NJDEP (New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection) identified a host of different environmental problems at the 1600 River Road site.

At this point, it is clear that if Teaneck were to finally decide to make River Road work, it will take architectural ingenuity, made more challenging in light of new post-Sandy flood lines that will limit the portion of the site that can utilized.

And so, in 2020 Teaneck again flirted with somehow placing the site in Overpeck Park. As recently as the June14, 2022 meeting, Council revealed it is working with Leonia to try to get a grant for a quarter of a million dollars to see if the two municipalities could jointly expand the Leonia site. This idea would rely heavily on the state’s preference for shared services.
Teaneck Voices has been exploring how this concept might work. It has become aware of the thicket of mid-20th century legal issues and litigation that accompanied the creation of Overpeck Park from contiguous municipalities. Bergen County, Green Acres and Tidelands provided funding. And their consequent encumbrances are embedded in various portions of the Leonia DPW site. Beyond these legal hurdles, the three blocks that make up the site itself are even now substantially in the Overpeck Creek flood zone.

Given these obstacles, the Leonia initiative will most likely be unable to move forward for yet another decade. If the Township remains paralyzed, its employees and residents will be entering a facility whose risks are almost certain to become intolerable.

The desire to put the DPW site “somewhere else” has always allowed the Town to avoid making the financial commitment to its renovation that any other private property owner is expected to make.

There is still one more element to this story. Deputy Mayor Schwartz, and perhaps a majority of the Council, have averted their eyes from the reality of 1600 River Road. They have held onto the hope that somehow, if only the DPW would go “somewhere else”, then this riverside location at 1600 might still allow a subsequent party to buy the site from the Town and clean it up for residential purposes. Or if that idea proved to be fanciful, perhaps the Town could somehow escape having actually to use its own resources for a while longer. That would be politically satisfying.

But delay, delay delay - for 60 years - is not the mantra of a responsible property owner.
Unfortunately, this half century tale of endless festering about 1600 River Road DPW is simply the most egregious example of a Township which refuses to make timely competent decisions as a property owner of its parks, its municipal buildings and lots and its open space.
NOTABLE WOMEN OF TEANECK
KASAI SANCHEZ
Amid the shock of the overturning of Roe v. Wade, there a shining light and hope for the future right here in Teaneck.

Meet Kasai Sanchez.

Seventeen years old, a rising senior at THS this coming Fall, Black-Hispanic daughter of a mother from Guyana and a father from Brooklyn, and a daughter of Teaneck, born and bred.

Kasai knew from a young age that she wanted to make a difference in the world. At her fourth grade moving up ceremony, Kasai was one of four students chosen to step on the stage and talk about her future. She said she wanted to be President of the United States.

All who knew her, knew this was not a just childhood dream!

By eighth grade, Kasai was on her way – President of the student body and a member of the Teaneck Youth Advisory Board (YAB). By sophomore year she was VP of the YAB and is now its President.

The next year Kasai was invited to speak at a Rally against Gun Violence at the Bergen County Courthouse in Hackensack. It is not an exaggeration to say that that opportunity sealed the deal. She fell in love with activism and especially with using her voice and her passion to inspire people to challenge the status quo and to change what was wrong.

In 2020 Covid-19 brought seismic change to the world. In the United States, the public murder of George Floyd brought an equally apocalyptic change. Around the country communities were painting large street murals proclaiming Black Lives Matter. As the Black Lives Matter committee grew and began advocating for a street mural in Teaneck, Kasai and Odein Karibi-Whyte, a THS graduate and Morehouse University student, were tapped to take the lead on both a street mural and a Teaneck High school mural.

For Kasai, the BLM mural was where her social justice and organizing skills came together. It is also where her awareness of Teaneck’s history was awakened: Learning that Teaneck was the first white school system in the country to desegregate by vote; learning about the 1990 shooting of Phillip Pannell.

“So many people don’t know Phillip Pannell’s name, don’t know what happened in the ‘90’s. That’s sad to me – people don’t talk about that. They’re apprehensive. It’s just weird.” But for Kasai and the BLM team, saying the names was important. “It’s weird,” she says, “at the height of the BLM movement, not to mention their names.”

Kasai started the Go Fund Me effort for the two BLM murals that now grace public spaces in Teaneck. Here are some of her words she wrote when she was a high school sophomore:
In Teaneck, we must say that we promote respect, empathy, and justice for all. It is during the times of difficulty when this is most important. The time is now. Part of displaying a strong sense of community means being aware of the racial struggles of people and raising awareness of these struggles so that change can be established. As residents of Teaneck, we want to make a strong and lasting demonstration of solidarity. If we remain silent when any segment of our community is faced with injustice, oppression, and disrespect, we will fail as a town to demonstrate the values that we claim to uphold.

She is proud of the BLM Committee’s negotiations with both the Town Council and the Board of Education and the two murals they produced. She glows when she talks about the THS mural on the steps of the Field – “It is so special because it has names.” Kasai loves to gather her fellow students and urge them to “Look outside! LOOK AT THE NAMES!

While she was involved with BLM, she got a call from another student about a new organization, Students Demand Action for Gun Violence. He said, “Kasai, we should co-lead this organization.” So they did! They wrote and delivered a powerful presentation for schools that focused on implicit bias.

Wanting to expand her reach and get to know more people from different groups in and around Teaneck, Kasai became the only youth member of the Teaneck Advisory Board on Community Relations. While many residents of Teaneck have become cynical about the new rule that Advisory Boards are closed to the public, Kasai remains upbeat. She insists that members talk to their friends and develop an informal network that supports and informs the Community Relations Board. “We can’t do anything if people don’t participate.”

This March 2022, Kasai spoke in Trenton for a school integration project. Her words seem, sadly, to respond to Shirley Chisolm’s of 60 years ago when she urged those not given a seat at the table to bring a folding chair. In Kasai’s words:

“If true diversity is having a seat at the table, then why are so many of students within our schools still trying to pull up chairs?”

Heading into her senior year, Kasai has been elected Senior Class President and continues as President of the Youth Advisory Board and co-leader of both Students Demand Action Against Gun Violence and Students Demand Action Bergen. And she is deeply involved in two projects that are dear to her heart: “Tea Talks” and TILT.

“Tea Talks”, initiated by Javalde Powell, are gatherings of groups of women to talk about their experiences growing up. Kasai says,

“Communities need this understanding. When you speak to someone and listen to them, you begin to understand why they are the way they are.”

TILT (Teaneck Interns Leading Together) is a student intern program led by Kasai from Teaneck High School and Gabe Greenfield from Frisch School. This program has the potential to radically change the separation of communities that has taken hold of Teaneck in the past few years. Interns from both schools work with elementary age students on a variety of projects, often in the arts or drama. Flyers are sent to the students every week by TILT.

The program was initiated by Mrs. Adina Lefkowitz, an orthodox woman who is a Teaneck High School math teacher. It is an offshoot of TCT (Teaneck Comes Together).

Kasai says she met a Jewish peer who said to her, “You are the first Black person I’ve ever spoken to. But” she continues, “a lot of THS students don’t know members of the Jewish Community. What’s so special, besides helping, is you get to know people you would not know otherwise.”

TILT has added students from Englewood and Hackensack and is planning unique summer projects like environmental programs and specialized tutoring.

And the future? College majoring in Political Science, Activism, Communication with a goal of changing the hospital system and the education system in this country.

“Oh, my goodness, I’m 18 next year! I consider myself a mature person. But there is so much I’m excited to learn. I want to grab every opportunity I have to speak. I love it so much! I love to fight along side people who are just as passionate as I am! I want to seize every opportunity to spread the story – Social Justice, Activism, Organizing!! That’s my future!" 
REGISTER TO VOTE NOW
If you are not registered to vote, please make it a priority to do so. To complete a registration form or for more information regarding voting in Bergen County, please click onto the this link.

If you are not sure if you are registered to vote in Teaneck, you may search here.

To check the details of your voter record, you may sign up here.
THE WEEK THAT WAS
The Board of Education conducted a meeting last Wednesday at which the public was invited to describe the qualities they hope the Board will look for in the person the Board selects to be School’s Superintendent.

Teaneck’s Planning Board (PB) met last Thursday primarily to hear Town Planner Keenan Hughes describe his investigative report (Click Here pp.19ff) which concludes that the 19 lots in the State Street area identified by Council on 2/22 as potentially constituting an Area in Need of Redevelopment (AINR) did, in fact meet the one or more of the criteria specified in the State’s redevelopment statute as being “in need of redevelopment”, i.e. blighted.

In the required public hearing, some residents challenged that conclusion by suggesting the Hughes’ identification of some property flaws as meeting those criteria were trivial and their equivalent would be found on most Town properties.

Another concern raised in the public hearing was whether in going forward with a redevelopment plan for the area, the Town might suddenly decide that it would switch from the AINR’s current “non-condemnation” designation to one permitting the municipality to exercise eminent domain – a switch which the State statute does, in fact allow a municipality to make.

The zoom meeting drew 53 participants at one point. The PB ultimately voted unanimously to tell Council that the PB did, in fact agree that the 19 lots did constitute an AINR.
UPCOMING MUNICIPAL EVENTS
Note: The Teaneck Voices website does provide updates about Town meetings as new information becomes available during the week

Community Meeting
Let’s Get the Facts about 1425 Teaneck Road
Monday June 27, 2022 at 7:00 pm
at MP-1 in the Rodda Center (see Announcement below)

Hackensack River Greenway Advisory Board (JHRGAB)
Monday June 27, 2022 at 7:30 pm
Public access and opportunity for input limited by the  Advisory Board ordinance (*see ordinance below)

Teaneck Council Regular Meeting
Tuesday June 28, 2022 at 8:00 pm.
Click Here and use the passcode 247361 to join the webinar.
The meeting’s full agenda can be found at Click Here

Notes: For those planning to watch the meeting, you can expect a useful presentation by Gabel Associates early in the meeting. Gabel Associates is the consultant that residents knowledgeable about energy aggregation agree should help the Township achieve a timely start of this energy initiative selected by Township voters last November.

Then the scheduled vote on whether to adopt Ordinance 22-2022 must be preceded by a public hearing that promises to be very contentious. 22-2022 must be among the most unusual ordinances ever to come before Council. We will let the ordinance’s own words speak for itself:

"WHEREAS, Ordinance No. 9-2022, An Ordinance to Amend and Revise Sections 33-22 & 24 of Article V, Zoning Ordinance, of Chapter 33…of the Code of the Township of Teaneck, Respecting the Expansion of the Hospital H Zoning District, was introduced by…Council on February 22, 2022, and, following the review and recommendation of the Planning Board, was adopted on March 15, 2022; and
WHEREAS, allegations have been made concerning potential conflicts of interest respecting the review and enactment of Ordinance 9-2022; and
 WHEREAS, to dispel any such allegations, the Township Council finds that it is in the best interest of the Township of Teaneck to repeal Ordinance No. 9-2022 and to introduce a new ordinance respecting the expansion of the Hospital H Zoning District" [italics added]

You see how this proposed new ordinance 22-2022 first repeals 9-2022 and then immediately replaces it with essentially the exact same ordinance, hoping to get around the conflict-of-interest charges brought by neighbors of Holy Name in the suit now being litigated in court.

It is likely that a petition from Holy Name neighbors will precede the ordinance. The petition seeks to require that this new ordinance be supported by 5 of 7 Council members all of whom must be eligible to vote, i.e., only those without any conflict-of-interest. Many residents are expected to discuss their views of 22-2022 in the public hearing. And then there is Ordinance 23-2022 which would have the Town give Holy Name much of Chadwick Road. But to be implemented, this Ordinance depends on successful adoption and legality of the previous one.

Other than Ordinance 22-2022 just discussed, only two other resolutions would appear to warrant resident questions. If Resolution 191-2022 passes, Deputy Mayor Schwartz will be reappointed to the Planning Board.

And, for some reason, Council is once more delaying the vote to adopt its plan to make most sidewalks outside of Town restaurants potential “parklets” until July 12th.

Finally, Teaneck Voices heartily welcomes Resolution 184-2022 which would create Theodore Lacey Way on a portion of Broad Street.

Teaneck Board of Education Special Meeting
Tuesday June 28, 2022 at 8:00 pm.
Although this meeting, which will take place simultaneously with Council’s, is described as an executive session meeting at which the Board will interview candidates to fill for the remainder of 2022 the Board vacancy created by the recent resignation of Damen Cooper, the Board none the less lists access to the webinar meeting Here

Teaneck Historic Preservation Commission (THPC)
Tuesday June 29, 2022 at 7:30 pm
Click Here for access and Click Here for Agenda

The THPC consistently offers its members and the public excellent meetings. This time is no exception. Check this out:

"During this public meeting of the Historic Preservation Commission of Teaneck, Andrea Tingey, Lindsay Thivierge, and Treena Goodman of The Historic Preservation Office of the State of New Jersey will present an overview of the Certified Local Government Program (CLG) in which Teaneck Township is a participant. They will also discuss the role and purpose of the Historic Preservation Commission in the review of permit applications, ending with a Q and A session with the commissioners and the public."

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*Quote from Ordinance 15-2020 on Advisory Boards adopted by Council on August 11, 2020: 

“Council’s advisory Board meetings are closed to the public. The public can submit items for discussion to the Council’s advisory board chair and council liaison for review and potential for inclusion on their meeting agenda. If the item is placed on the agenda, the chair, with approval of their Council’s advisory board, may invite the member of the public to come and speak to them about the specific issue they want to have discussed”.
This Week's Events at the Library click here
ONE TOWN ONE VOTE RESIDENT SURVEY
One Town One Vote (OTOV) is a grassroots, nonpartisan volunteer organization that worked with other community groups to make it easier and more convenient for Teaneck residents to vote for their local leadership by unifying Teaneck’s stand-alone town council elections, previously held in May, to take place on the same day as the General Elections in November. Tuesday, November 8, 2022 will be the first time Teaneck residents will have the opportunity to vote for town council members at the same time as we vote for other local, state, and national officials.

In anticipation of this historic event, OTOV is conducting a town-wide survey on resident issues and concerns. We need your input! Your responses will help us achieve our ongoing goal of helping to listen, educate, organize, and empower residents on local issues so your voice matters and your vote counts in the November elections. Your information will not be shared with any other organization.

Please click here to take the One Town One Vote resident survey! Your voices will be heard, your voices will count!"
COVID UPDATES
Rapid COVID-19 Test Kits Available for Free from USPS

Free at-home COVID-19 tests ordered on www.covidtests.gov and delivered by USPS. Limit of 2 orders per household. Each order contains 4 individual tests
RODDA CENTER
In an effort to keep the senior center staff and participants safe, mask wearing
and social distancing are required.
Masks are now optional inside the library. Those attending programs held in limited areas, such as the Auditorium, are still required to wear masks. 
Contactless doorside pickup is still available.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
JUNE IS PRIDE MONTH
RALLY JULY 6TH
ANNIVERSARY OF LAC-MEGANTIC TRAGEDY
SUPPORT THE OIL TRAIN SAFETY BILL

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TO THE BRAVE UKRAINIAN PEOPLE FIGHTING FOR THEIR FREEDOM
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CONTRIBUTIONS WELCOME
It is our mission to achieve integrity, transparency, responsiveness, diversity, and social justice in Teaneck governance.
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Teaneck Voices, P. O. Box 873, Teaneck, NJ 07666-0873  
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MASTHEAD
Editorial Board
Natalee Addison
Laraine Chaberski
Toniette H. Duncan
LaVerne Lightburn
Charles W. Powers
Bernard Rous
Micki Shilan
Barbara Ley Toffler

Supporters
Denise Belcher
Juanita Brown
Margot Embree Fisher
Gail Gordon
Guy Thomas Lauture
Gloria Wilson
Contributors
Bettina Hempel
Dennis Klein
Henry Pruitt
Howard Rose

Advisors
Theodora Smiley Lacey
Loretta Weinberg