Shauna’s 08/07/2025 TC Meeting Notes: Berkeley Heights Officials Pressed on Creek Maintenance and Flood Response
The emergency meeting of the Berkeley Heights Town Council was set to be a quick adoption of a resolution for a bond to provide for street and culvert repairs after July 14th’s record rainfall. Instead, multiple residents showed up to voice their frustration and anger with the lack of action on the continued flooding of the Briarwood Drive area of...
Latest OPRA Roundup: What We Learned (and Didn’t) from the Berkeley Heights School District
From time to time, NJ 21st requests all OPRAs sent to the Berkeley Heights School District. In the latest report there were four requests. (Sort of.) One OPRA request asked for all bids and/or bid tally for the Mountain Park drainage project from June 14, 2022. In response, the District provided the one bid that had been received, by GM...
Terrace Two, Nokia Site, and Sidewalks- Shauna’s Notes on the June 26 Council Meeting
The June 26th Berkeley Heights Town Council meeting started with several presentations. Troop 368 Life Scout, Ian Williams, laid out a proposal to build picnic benches for the Littell Lord Homestead property. A representative from DMR architects went over the results of three Nokia Vision Sessions that were held with town residents and others. Bill Hamilton from Bowman Consulting and...
Best Use of Stone Veneer – Because We All Need a Break from OPRA Lawsuits
We spend alot of our time writing about serious and, at times, uncomfortable topics. The majority of our work has been to bring awareness to issues not covered elsewhere. We don’t typically publish happy, feel-good articles. Why bring this up? I was unsuccessful in getting a pay raise or a bonus this year. That’s a joke. None of us are...
The Future of Turf Fields in New Jersey
It’s interesting, sometimes, the things you find when you’re looking for something else… the part to the broken item you finally threw away a month before, the twenty in the pocket of a jacket you haven’t worn for a year, or dozens of tiny paper cutouts of penguins with hockey sticks drawn by children when they were young, and stashed...
A Closer Look at Claims of Legal Risk to Public Purchasing Co-Ops
During the May 15th meeting of the Berkeley Heights Board of Education, (former) Business Administrator Anthony Juskiewicz made mention of a bill that was introduced recently in the New Jersey Assembly that would affect Cooperative Purchasing Agreements. Mr. Juskiewicz said that unions and lobbyists have “put a bill forth out there that they don’t want these co-ops using trades.” According...
Transparency Tested: Berkeley Heights BOE’s Long Agenda Ends in a Familiar Clash
Editors Note: We received the following feedback: “One small correction on your article policy 132 will now allow the superintendent to promulgate regulations to the policy book without board approval. Currently all regulations need to go through committee and be voted on. In your article I think you said policy instead of regulation.” We are currently checking this and will...
What’s at Stake in the Potential Sale of the Berkeley Heights Sewer Plant
Many towns across not only New Jersey, but the nation, have been selling their waste treatment plants to private companies. Berkeley Heights mayor, Angie Devanney, along with Town Council members put out an article detailing their intent to vote on moving forward to solicit bids for the sale of the town’s waste treatment plant and highlighting some of the reasoning...
Extracurriculars: Helping or Harming Our Kids?
As my own family shifts into gear with college lists and visits, the dreaded Naviance questionnaires looming, SAT/ACT exams happening, and the Common App waiting like a stalking butler (thanks, Maynard), extracurricular activities have been popping into mind recently. According to the US Census, roughly 40% of kids participate in sports, with approximately 30% being involved in clubs or lessons outside...
Turf or Grass? Environmental Concerns for Lower Columbia Field
The Berkeley Heights Township’s lease of the lower Columbia field has been approved, but there is much to be done before residents will see a playing field at this location. One of those things needs to be a review of environmental conditions in that area and how placing a turf field in this location will impact the ecosystem. According to...
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