Notes on the 03/19/2024 Town Council Meeting
Traffic Safety A recent accident involving a young resident of Berkeley Heights prompted testimony from several residents on traffic concerns on Park Avenue and in general. Since the accident, a petition has been circulating throughout the community advocating for the following: 1. reducing the speed limit to 30 mph for the length of Park Avenue 2. installing permanent automated speed...
Resident Comments on Tree Ordinance & New Rules on Correspondence to the Town Council
The following email was sent to BHCW for publication by Steven Kark, Berkeley Heights Resident I want my neighbor to keep his trees the way they are. He wants to cut some of them down. So we had a little discussion and this is what happened. I told him that 3 friends of mine think that the trees are good for...
Notes on the 02/20/2024 Berkeley Heights Town Council Meeting- Trespassing Ordinance and Another Tense Discussion
The Town Council voted through a resolution on 02/20/2024 that broadens parameters that make it easier for local police to question or “act” with regard to suspected trespassing. From a civil liberties perspective, on paper, it appears to make sense as long as it is applied in practice with fidelity to the ordinance. Based on my understanding of the ordinance, more...
Notes on the 02/06/2024 Town Council Agenda
All-Inclusive Playground- Update: This item was removed from the Agenda on 2/6/2024 As we’ve reported, the Township appears to be moving forward with an “all-inclusive” playground at CMS; however, this did not appear to be an agenda item for either of the BOE Meetings in January, and the Town Council Liasion for the BOE (Gale Bradford) has not mentioned this...
Laura’s Notes on the 01/18/2024 Town Council Meeting-Part 1
The Town Council meeting, 1/23/24, opened up with the citizens hearing on agenda items only and no residents had comments on agenda. Committee Reports followed and, for the most part, it was business as usual. Items of note are that the Sherman Avenue revitalization project is in the works and the primary purpose of this project is to make the...
Councilman Paul Donnelly Emails Mayor Devanney On Vote to Reappoint Municipal Judge
Earlier today, BHCW posted a video clip on a tense discussion between Councilman Donnelly, Mayor Devanney and the Township Attorney. Soon after we were cc’d on an email from Councilman Donnelly to Mayor Devanney. It read as follows: Dear Angie, all, During last night’s Town Council meeting on Jan 2, 2023, I asked you and council to table the...
Tense moment during the Berkeley Heights Township Re-Org Meeting On Reappointment of Municipal Judge
Mr. Donnelly and Mayor Devanney discuss the reappointment of Judge DeMassi; Mr. Donnelly abstains from the vote after guidance from counsel. Subscribe to Our YouTube Channel
A Key Moment During the 12/19/2023 Berkeley Heights Town Council Meeting
The annoying and potentially dangerous “don’t get in the way of progress argument” reveals itself yet again. The clip below is, in my opinion, one of the more important exchanges during the 12/19/2023 Town Council Meeting. Town Council Member-Elect Margaret Illis asked the Council whether the Council considered recommendations by the Planning Board. This is a question she asked the...
Six Days Before Christmas: The 12/19/2023 Town Council Meeting & Municipal Land Use Ordinance
On December 19, 2023, the Berkeley Heights town council unanimously voted on the final adoption of the Municipal Land Use ordinance. This is a 290-page document that was introduced for initial reading on December 5, 2023, and the planning board unanimously voted on this during it’s December 6, 2023 meeting. On the planning board agenda for December 6, 2023, it...
The Municipal Land Use Ordinance- Why Now And In This Manner?
Today on the town council agenda for final adoption is the Municipal Land Use Ordinance’s final amended version. We are SIX days from Christmas and in a lame-duck session. I have been writing to council members and the mayor since September 2023 on the sign ordinance. Natasha Joly also wrote to the council. Other than the initial response from the...
nj21st.com (with the exception of featured images and logo) is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
