Community Corner

The Week in Union County

Here's a look at the region's headlines for the past week.

Every week, Patch takes a look at the headlines that made news in Union County. Here's what topped the region's news this past week:

Clark-Garwood

On Saturday, the Johnson Diamond Club held their Johnson grad Rob Smorol, who just completed his sophomore season at Rutgers and has excelled at the high school and college levels during his baseball career, teamed with RU teammates Joe D’Annunzio of Scotch Plains and Michael Lang of Dumont to win tournament.

With the temperatures hitting triple-digits last week, we asked readers over the weekend to give us their wittiest moans and groans about battling the heat. Readers completed the sentence, "It's so hot that _____" and this week we picked a winner: Karen L Enners Amaral, who wrote, "It's so hot, the chickens are laying hard boiled eggs!"  

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 Berkeley Heights-Mountainside

Discussion of the hiring process filled Tuesday’s Mountainside Board of Education meeting as the board must hire a new Chief School Administrator following the resignation of Dr. Jeanette Baubles. 

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According to Board President James Ruban, the job opening was posted on Sunday, July 24, and resumes will be accepted until Sunday, Aug. 1.

Interviews will be held as early as next week, schedule permitting. Ruban explained that members of the Mountainside Education Association (MEA), Mountainside Education Foundation (MEF) and Parent Teacher Association (PTA) will be involved in the selection process and encouraged members of the community to reach out to these organizations.

“I’d prefer us to do it right rather than do it quickly,” said board member and Chair of the Personnel/Negotiations Committee Mary Beth Schaumberg.

While stating her intention was not to complicate the hiring process, Schaumberg suggested holding a meeting with members of the MEA, MEF and PTA prior to scheduling interviews. The meetings will serve as a strategy session and allow the members of the various organizations to prioritize candidate requirements, plan interview questions and determine a schedule. 

Ruban and other board members agreed that the meeting would be helpful, adding it to their planned hiring process. The board also explained the lengthy interview process

Members of the organizations and the Personnel/Negotiations Committee will conduct the first of two rounds of interviews. The panel will be split in two, with each candidate being interviewed by each panel separately for approximately one hour. The panel will then reconvene, review the results of the interviews and select the top candidates. The second round of interviews will be conducted by the Mountainside Board of Education, which will select a new Chief School Administrator.

In other news, residents opposed to an ordinance that amends the township's code on flood damage prevention to include riparian zone protections continued their protests to the town council on Tuesday night.

The ordinance fulfills a state mandate on protected land use. After adoption, municipalities have the flexibility to interpret and manage the ordinance based on its intent. This includes unique homeowner cases. 

Residents had interpreted that Tuesday's vote on the ordinance to become the final say on whether they can repair or otherwise modify their property within a riparian zone.

Residents anywhere in New Jersey that live in a riparian zone against the Passaic River are bound by state mandates that protect the zones. A riparian zone is an interface between land and a river or stream.

"This ordinance deals with setting forth the state regulations that are already in place and allows the town (some leverage) in how it enforces them," said borough attorney Joseph Sordillo. "Any application would still require Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) approval whether this ordnance is adopted or not." 

The council passed the ordinance by a 4-2 vote.  

But that wasn't before residents took turns in protesting what could happen once the ordinance is in place.

"The problem with zone (in the ordinance) is that it is very broadly written,”said Paul Bakas who lives on Lawrence Drive. “It's not tailored to Berkeley Heights, it's not tailored to small communities and it does not help the public get informed about the purpose and intent of this state regulation."

There are specific elements of the mandate that prohibit the disturbance of the land in the zone regardless of whether it is on a homeowners's property. That means that residents are not allowed to build or repair embankments or reroute the waterway, no matter how destructive the water can become.

The township, similar to all others in New Jersey, is under pressure from the DEP to pass the ordinance as it is tied to receiving state sewer permits that pave the way toward municipal expansion.

Municipal or state restrictions, however, are cold comfort to homeowners who are looking for a way to suspend the flood waters that are causing damage and potentially impacting home values. 

 

New Providence

Patrolman Andrew Diamond located a stolen vehicle, a 2002 Chevrolet Trailblazer, in a Springfield Avenue driveway on July 18 that had been reported stolen in Newark in 2008.  There were several charges to the individual who originally reported the vehicle stolen in Newark.  Jose Leon, 70, of Newark was charged with theft by deception and simulation of an insurance identification card.  The charges stem from Mr. Leon selling the alleged stolen vehicle to a resident of New Providence in 2008 for $6,700 and advised the resident that he was having a problem with the bank and could not release the title to him.  During the time period that the resident had the vehicle, Mr. Leon provided fraudulent temporary license plates and fraudulent insurance identification cards while the resident believed he was waiting for the title. Mr. Leon currently has a warrant for his arrest with bail set at $15,000. 

 

Chatham beat New Providence, 8-3, on Wednesday in the North Jersey All Star Youth Baseball 9U semifinal game.  Richie Wawzyck had two hits, and Ryan Sherman and Tucker Davidson had one hit each for New Providence. The team scored three runs in the top of the first, and it threatened for more before Chatham's Mac Clark came on to pitch 4 1/3 innings, silencing New Providence's bats. 

 

The top swimmers from 19 towns converged in New Providence on Thursday for the New Jersey Summer Swim League Meet of Champions. This year, the New Providence Piranhas ranked 2nd overall. The boys' team and girls' team also ranked 2nd overall. The highlights for New Providence include: two 1st place finishes by 18-year-old Julia Kudryashova, a 1st and 2nd place finish by 12-year-old Alicia Iizuka, two 1st place finishes by 8-year-old Matt Fallon, two 1st place finishes by 9-year-old Sophia Kudryashova, a 1st and 2nd place finish by 10-year-old Jack Gertie, two 1st place finishes by 16-year-old Will Beckett, a 2nd and 3rd place finish by 8-year-old John Goceljack, a 1st and 2nd finish by 17-year-old KJ Winchel.

 

Cranford

 to the building at 20 Commerce Drive in the Cranford Business Park off of Raritan Road Tuesday, causing police to respond and evacuate approximately 400 employees from several companies housed in the office building.

Union County freeholders tapped the head of the county’s parks and community renewal department, Alfred Faella, as the new county manager during a meeting Thursday evening. Faella will assume the county manager’s post on Aug. 1, following the of County Manager George Devanney.

 have responded to the corner of North Avenue and Eastman Street Thursday following reports of a possible malfunction of the traffic light at that intersection just after 7 p.m. The light, which controls the flow of traffic at the busy intersection, began blinking unexpectedly. Crews from the NJ Department of Transportation responded to reset the traffic signal.

The  Class of 2001 will be celebrating a decade out of the hall of CHS on Aug. 27 with a reunion at Senorita’s in Clark. The reunion kicks off at 6 p.m. that Saturday with a barbeque at the restaurant’s outdoor patio. Senorita’s is located on the grounds of the Hyatt Hills Golf Complex, which is located in both Cranford and Clark. For the CHS alums, however, the reunion will be wholly held in Clark.

Springfield

A black BMW went up in flames after a power line fell onto it shortly after 4 p.m. on Friday, July 22. Springfield police and fire responded to the accident, but with electricity still coursing through the wire, emergency responders were unable to act until Jersey Central Power & Light cut power to the entire area, shutting down businesses as well as the DMV and the library.

Springfield fire was able to put out the flames, but not before it was burned down to an ash-colored pile of twisted metal. No one was hurt in the fire.

 

Westfield

The Westfield Board of Education  of $845,000 in bonus state aid on hiring new teachers, a new intermediate school guidance counselor and new computers for the high school technology lab. The vote came amid discussions of using all or part of the bonus aid for tax relief. The BOE voted down a resolution offered by BOE member David Finn to use half the funds for tax relief. BOE member Mitch Slater was the only board member to join Finn is voting on behalf of the tax relief resolution.

The Westfield Town Council unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday morning to seek a $25,000 state grant to assist with the . The grant is being offered through the Sustainable Jersey program and the expanded center could lead to more revenue for the town.

The Westfield Board of Education the student activity fee the same for the 2011-2012 school year. BOE members Mitch Slater and David Finn proposed Tuesday evening to eliminate the fee using part of $845,000 in bonus state aid. The fee was implemented in 2010 after Gov. Chris Christie slashed the town's state aid by $4.22 million.

Summit

Another bear was spotted in town this week, this one a little too close for comfort. A bear was spotted on Tuesday near the Lawton C. Johnson Summit Middle. It is unknown if the bear seen Tuesday is the same bear that has been spotted in other parts of town in recent weeks.

Scotch Plains

SPPD Foils Alleged Break-In: A timely tip from a wary resident helped Scotch Plains police officers stop an alleged home burglary on Friday, according to a press release distributed by the department Monday evening. 

 

At about 12 p.m. last Friday, July 22, officers arrested Clifford High, 57, of Plainfield, after a resident of North Avenue called 911 to report that High was attempting to break into the backdoor of her neighbor's house. Officers responded to the scene immediately, the press release states, and observed High running away toward Fanwood. After a brief foot pursuit, officers ultimately apprehended High in the backyard of a Fanwood home. Fanwood police officers assisted in the chase.

Police charged High with attempted burglary, resisting arrest and obstruction of justice. He was unable to meet his bail, set at $53,500, and was transported to the Union County Jail. 


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