JACKSON – Township officials moved to form a Going Green Committee for the community during a recent council session.
Township Recycling Coordinator Irina Darrar brought it up to council members last year.
“I did some research on this idea and found other towns in our area that had Going Green Committees included Toms River, Howell, Freehold Wall and Neptune. They already had these Going Green Committees or Green Teams,” Councilman Nino Borrelli said.
“According to SustainableNewJersey.com about 81% of New Jersey towns and cities participate – that is 463 municipalities out of the 564 municipalities in our state. Why not Jackson? Why don’t we try this out by launching a Going Green Committee as most New Jersey municipalities have done already,” he said.
He noted the size of Jackson which is the third largest municipality in the state and the environmental resources it has. “The main focus of this Going Green Committee will be looking for ways to save our town money through grants and other possible means and protect our environment in Jackson at the same time.
“We’ll need residents who live in our town and who work for the township to serve on this committee. It will include up to two members of the township council, a mayor’s designee, a planning board designee, an environmental commission designee, a Shade Tree Committee designee, a Jackson Pathfinders designee, an MUA (Municipal Utilities Authority) designee, Board of Education designee, Chamber of Commerce designee and such other resident volunteers to include a total of 15 members,” Borrelli said.
Rova Farms
Councilman Alex Sauickie noted that during their prior meeting, the Council had voted to form the Rova Farms Advisory Sub-Committee that will look at ways that the purchased open space property could be best utilized by the public. He said a lot of interest has come toward that committee from residents made up of Jackson Pathfinders and numerous town historians and members of St. Vladimir’s Church.
The councilman said the township has received offers from non-residents to serve as advisors to that committee. “We’ll be looking forward to appointing folks to that committee very soon. For anyone interested you can fill out a citizens leadership form available on the township website.”
Governor Murphy’s Mandates
The governing body spoke out against Governor Phil Murphy’s executive orders requiring health care workers and correction officers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of continuing employment.
Councilman Borrelli remarked “this contradicted his promise he made not to. This is wrong and immoral on so many levels. We are way past the health emergency and the wearing of masks have hurt the kids.”
He added that wearing masks and vaccinations for children should be a personal choice. “The Jackson Township Council supports the parents by lending its voices to their rightful cause. And we need members on the School Board who will too.”
“I want to echo Councilman Borrelli’s comments about the mandates, the mask mandate in particular and it begs the question, what does the governor know is going to happen on March 7? Is it going to magically be okay for the kids to not wear their masks? No, it is all political. It was thrown out there arbitrarily. There was no thought behind it, it is just about control,” Council Vice President Andrew Kern said.
Mayor Michael Reina has not been shy about his views opposing executive orders by the governor during past meetings. He said, “I’m hoping the Jackson Township Board of Education doesn’t succumb and keep the mandate in place.”
“The Jackson Township Board of Ed is a very strong function of the town and we get along quite well. I hope they see the reason to let these children breathe freely and get on with their studies and interact socially expression wise,” the mayor added.
Snow Dangers
Council President Martin Flemming spoke about recent snow storm that he called “an 18-hour ordeal.” He said he noticed that people weren’t shoveling their sidewalks.
“It is a safety issue and an insurance issue. It is a neighborly issue. You have to take care of these things. The volunteer departments were out shoveling out their own hydrants for several nights to get them clear,” he said.
Mayor Reina said, “the first words out of everyone’s mouth is ‘when are the plows coming?’ Well, the plows are out and some people who may have four-wheel drives go out and think all the roads are clear and they go and get stuck in snow drifts. Now we can’t clear the street because we have a car stuck in the roadway or we have worse we have an overturned car.”
He also noted the dangerous practice some people have of cutting off plows “which is very dangerous, please don’t do it. This is what I witnessed in 47 hours being behind a truck. If a plow doesn’t come down your street call the Department of Public Works. They will send someone out there.”
The mayor also referenced the pothole hotline and urged residents to call them in so they can be rectified. “If it is on a county road, we will direct it to the county.”
