Fanwood Council Honors Residents, Public Workers for Service to Borough

Tuesday night's Fanwood council meeting was packed with proclamations and awards.

The night started off with the honoring of Scout Troop 104's Joseph Kaiser, who recently completed his Eagle Scout project. Kaiser created a memorial garden at St. Paul's United Church of Christ in Garwood.  The scout, who's currently a student at the Union County Magnet High School, put in 400 service hours to complete his goal. 

In addition to being an eagle scout, Kaiser is also a member of the Fanwood Rescue Squad. Since the Rescue Squad was also being honored Tuesday night as part of Rescue Squad/EMS Month, Kaiser accepted an award on their behalf as well.

"It goes without saying that you keep us safe and you keep us well," Mayor Colleen Mahr said of the squad.  She thanked all the members for the work they do on a volunteer basis to help others. 

The next to be honored was Aditya Dahiya, a senior at Union County Magnet High School who has been named the salutatorian of his class. In addition to all of his hard work academically, Dahiya has participated in the Math Club and the Robotics Club. He plans to attend the University of Pennsylvania.

"I would like to thank everyone who helped me, Magnet as a school, and Fanwood as a town to live in," Dahiya said.

The council then participated in the celebration of National Police Week by reading a proclamation honoring the members of the force. While Chief Richard Trigo has only been in this position for a few months, Mahr noted that he has done a great job thus far. Among several new initiatives, the mayor and the chief have been working to move the police department's dispatching services to the Union County Police Dispatching Center.  Trigo said he hopes the program will be a win/win for all, noting that it will save the borough money without sacrificing any of the service that the town expects and deserves. Trigo welcomed any questions from the public on this issue.

Several members of the police force were also present Tuesday to receive awards for their service. Trigo thanked all the members of his force for the hard work they do every single day and the sacrifices they make. The awards for a job well done included one for staying calm while being held at gunpoint and another for performing CPR and saving the life of a citizen. 

The Fanwood Public Works Department also received recognition. Councilman Russel Huegel presented a proclamation in honor of National Public Works Week to Director Clint Dicksen, who was there to accept the honor. Dicksen noted that his department has been cut down in size, but is still committed to working hard to keep Fanwood running.

"I'd like to send a heartfelt thank you to all my guys and one girl," the director said. "They keep our department as a first-class department and Fanwood as a first-class community."

Councilman Robert Manduca presented a proclamation for Historic Preservation Month, with a member of the Historic Preservation Commition on hand to accept the honor.  He highlighted some of the work that the commission has been able to do including the Fanwood Museum.  He said that the commission could use lots of volunteers, and urged people to join them in preserving the history of this community. Finally, Councilwoman Katherine Mitchell read a proclamation for National Nurses Week, which recognized the hard work of those in nursing professions.

After all the proclamations and presentations, the council moved on to council reports. Notable reports included the news that the state has finally released the money for refurbishing the caboose that's currently housed at the Fanwood Recycling Center. This project has been in the works for about six years, according to Mitchell.  The caboose needs to be sanded and refurbished, but this must be done in a controlled environment as the caboose contains lead paint.  

The mayor also touched on Gov. Chris Christie's 33-bill package that introduced a number of reforms on Monday. Mahr noted that the proposal to push the school board elections from April to November could help increase voter turnout, but again expressed concern about the proposed constitutional amendment to lower the tax levy cap to 2.5 percent. The mayor questioned whether this cap would extend to health care, pension, and utilities, and again noted that if the governor hadn't sliced so much of the borough's state aid this year, that it's likely Fanwood would have had a flat, or even lower, tax rate for 2010.