No Ordinance, No Referendum: Were Berkeley Heights Residents Shut Out?
Let’s start simple: if a New Jersey town wants to lease public land, it’s supposed to pass an ordinance. Ordinances take time—public notice, two readings, a hearing—and they give residents the right to petition for a referendum. A resolution is quick, one-meeting business. No hearing. No referendum. That difference matters. What the Township did Back in March, the Township passed...
A Turf Field Deal Without “Turf Field” And a Lease That’s Now Called Something Else
After months of NJ21st trying to get a clear answer on the legality of the CMS lease agreement, Berkeley Heights Town officials have now taken the position that what they actually approved was a Shared Services Agreement. Township attorney Scott Salmon told NJ21st (in an 08/11 email) that, while the arrangement started out “stylized as a lease,” it’s “for all...
From Screaming to Silence … What Happened to the Berkeley Heights Turf Plan?
As Mountainside BOE member Bill Dillon remarked at the June BOE meeting, “we are still no closer to a turf field.” Those words have proved to not only be true, but mum’s been the word from the Recreation Commission and the Township. As I previously reported, the Recreation Commission had an unadvertised special meeting to hear from a single turf...
Missing Ordinance? Berkeley Heights Turf Lease May Violate State Law
Is the Berkeley Heights CMS Lease Agreement Legal? -Laura Kapuscinski This past weekend, while I was opening fan mail, I happened upon an anonymous letter directing me to N.J.S.A. 40A:12-5 and pointing out the possibility that the Town Council did not properly adopt the CMS land lease with the Berkeley Heights Board of Education.* Upon review, the language in N.J.S.A....
Public Only When Convenient? Residents Question Turf Field Transparency
While the Township previously engaged in a highly public campaign that involved press releases and email blasts to promote the CMS lease, recent communication on the project -particularly a scheduled meeting with a turf vendor-raises questions about consistency and transparency. A meeting organized by the Recreation Committee to hear from a turf vendor was not listed on the Township calendar,...
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...
Private Tour, Public Questions: Does Recreation Department Invite Lead Council & BOE to Violate OPMA?
The New Jersey Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA) 10:4-7 clearly states: Legislative Findings and Declaration: “The Legislature finds and declares that the right of the public to be present at all meetings of public bodies, and to witness in full detail all phases of the deliberation, policy formulation, and decision-making processes of public bodies, is vital to the enhancement and...
Smiles for the Camera, Silence Behind the Scenes
An ongoing crisis of transparency and trust in Berkeley Heights The work of our elected representatives is arguably difficult—and often thankless. But lately, the endless parade of staged photo ops and plastered-on smiles pushed out by the Township feels increasingly out of sync with the outright hostility and dysfunction that rears its head during election season. So what’s real—those smiles...
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...
Council Passes Lease in Special Meeting as Residents Raise Transparency Concerns
The Berkeley Heights Town Council held a Special Meeting over Zoom this past Tuesday at 3:30 PM. The only item on the agenda was the lease agreement with the Board of Education for Lower Columbia property. Councilmember Margaret Illis was absent, and both Council President John Foster and Vice President Susan Poage—who are employees of the school district—recused themselves due...
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