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....
John’s Notes on the 10/07/2025 Town Council Meeting- Focus on No-Bid Contracts
The corrective action plan we covered on Saturday is the biggest red flag that shows up on this week’s Berkeley Heights Town Council Meeting 10/07/2025 agenda packet. To that end, two items seek to rename the CFO position (to CFO instead of CMFO), break down the CFO and Qualified Purchasing Agent (QPA) responsibilities, and tighten rules on paying bills and...
Buried in the Agenda – Late Audit, Unfixed Finance Failures and a Part-Time CFO
While the 2024 Township audit still hasn’t been posted on the website yet, a look at the agenda packet for this week’s Berkeley Heights Town Council meeting shows that the finance department is still having the same issues. In a corrective action plan the Council is set to vote on this week, seven items mentioned are the same identified in...
Ordinance Dispute Sparks Heated Exchange: Sai Presses Council, Poage Exits Discussion
In this clip BOE Representative Sai Akiri speaks to the council on her concerns. We have to, again stress our very firm disagreement with the Township Attorney. In New Jersey, a township can’t just wave a resolution. N.J.S.A. 40A:12-5, says plainly that a municipality has to act “by ordinance”. The state Supreme Court affirmed this in Township of Millburn v....
Tax Breaks, Turf Politics, and Rising Sewer Costs: What Berkeley Heights Council Plans to Approve Tuesday
Tuesday’s Berkeley Heights 09/16 Town Council Meeting agenda is jammed with big ticket items that connect to redevelopment, the sewage plant, storm recovery, and a long-term lease with Verizon. CMS Lease – After last week’s developments on the CMS Lease agreement, the Council and Rec Commissioner may be betting the BOE is preparing to back out given the very strong...
Berkeley Heights Town Council Trying To Rush Through CMS Project and Force District’s Hand Again
On the agenda for Council this week is a Resolution for Harbor Consultants to provide professional engineering, surveying and planning services for the Columbia Middle School Lower Fields Project. Essentially this means the township is awarding a no-bid contract to a consulting firm to complete land surveying, environmental investigation and an engineering design for the field. Why this is just...
Laura’s Notes on the 08/19/2025 Berkeley Heights Town Council Meeting
Following a doozy of a day with the Township and flood repairs (that’s a follow-up article, stay tuned!), the advertised Zoom livestream for the in-person Council Meeting was set to begin at 6:30. Unfortunately, any resident who followed instructions on the Township website to watch the livestream was met with a blank screen—and learned through the grapevine that Zoom would...
Resident Pushes Back on “Our Hands Are Tied” Narrative — Holds Poage Accountable to Campaign Materials
In this video, Jacqueline Cinque does what we wish more residents would: hold the Council accountable to their own words. Imagine if every resident showed up to Council and BOE meetings this prepared. Imagine if every resident pushed back with the same level of scrutiny. Meanwhile, the Council rushed through a $3.5 million bond at warp speed for oddly specific...
NJ21st Investigates Berkeley Heights Storm Damage Assessment
Emergency Bond Spending in Berkeley Heights- Storm Recovery or Misplaced Priorities? by Laura Kapuscinski I visited the majority of specific addresses listed in the Township Storm Damage Assessment. . My research was based on the very specific house numbers and scope of work listed on the Township’s Assessment Report. While several houses did not seem to have sustained noticeable damage,...
From Affordable Housing to Emergency Bonds – A Full Night for Berkeley Heights
Berkeley Heights Council meets tomorrow- Tuesday, August 19 – starting with a session on the Connell rezoning. Two ordinances are up for a final vote. The council is set to vote on an ordinance that evens out the affordable housing rules for new developments. Currently, for-sale projects of five or more homes must include 20% affordable units, while rentals only...
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