Laura’s Notes on the 10/07/2025 Town Council Meeting

Approximately 75 minutes were spent discussing Narcan kits and the chicken ordinance.

Approximately 45 seconds were spent discussing an audit and hundreds of thousands of dollars in spending.

Missing from the meeting was the Township Administrator.

Conference Session:

The Rotary Club provided a presentation on the importance of Narcan kits and training to save lives. This took about 30 minutes.

The Township Attorney remotely discussed the chicken ordinance, and for the following 45 minutes the Council discussed it — 45 minutes on how to report a chicken death and how many chickens per household. Forty-five minutes!

The first citizens hearing on conference sessions had one resident, and he put it well: “I wish we spent that amount of time discussing the overdevelopment.”

Flood Update from the Mayor

The Mayor spoke about applying for grants, working with local mayors, and pursuing a shared services agreement for machinery to help maintain waterways. She discussed a local task force focused on educating themselves and the community about mitigation strategies. The Mayor also mentioned having three goals: short term, to continue doing what Berkeley Heights can with the DEP and engineering support; medium term, to recreate a coalition with buy-in from neighboring communities; and long term (estimated 10+ years), to secure federal appropriations to “do it right.” When questioned later on a timeline, the Mayor had none but asked for “a few months” to navigate her plans.

Ordinances amending the maintenance sewer agreement and approving a contract for Verizon to lease the property at 259 Diamond Hill Road were approved unanimously and without discussion.

Citizens Hearing II

Two Berkeley Heights residents discussed ongoing flooding problems and expressed frustration about why the process is taking so long. One resident noted that nearly all bridges in Berkeley Heights have plaques indicating county ownership and questioned why the county is not responsible for maintaining them. Another resident asked if the Flooding Task Force could communicate with residents to keep them informed about preparations for future storms.

A few non-Berkeley Heights residents spoke in favor of the Narcan presentation and commended the Mayor and Council for understanding the importance of educating communities.

Another resident raised concerns about cars, e-bikes, and scooters speeding in town. The Council echoed his remarks, urging parents to model good behavior on the road and for everyone to slow down. The resident stated that the only way to get people to slow down is to enforce the rules by having visible police presence.

23 Resolutions In One Shot

Twenty-three resolutions were adopted unanimously with no discussion. These covered everything from certifying the annual audit to awarding professional service agreements and vendor contracts.

Ordinances for first reading included prohibiting the sale of dogs, cats, and rabbits at retail shops; renaming the Certified Finance Officer and Qualified Purchasing Agent titles; and updating bill payment procedures.

Again, all were adopted unanimously with no discussion or questions.

Council reports closed out the meeting with various updates in Berkeley Heights.

While this meeting felt very much like an exercise in rubber stamping everything on the agenda, we know the hearts of Berkeley Heights lie with the chickens.

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