Tax Caps and Toga Parties

Editor's Note: Starting today, we're going to put together a "Week in Review" piece each week to clue you in on some of the more important things that happened in Chatham Borough and Chatham Township during the past seven days. Like what you see? Have suggestions? Let me know at zach@patch.com or leave them in the comments below.

We transitioned from an extremely hot week last week to one that wasn't quite as warm. It still, however, featured summertime activities through and through. To wit:

- On Tuesday, the township kicked off its summer series with a battle of the bands. Three acts came together inside Township Hall to showcase their talents.

- A toga party—complete with live music—took place at The Towne Tavern Thursday. It was a way for people to escape the heat.

- For many, pools are synonomous with summertime, and the borough's Memorial Park pool was a hot topic this week. The Memorial Park and Pool Committee submitted a plan for renovating the dilapidated structure to the borough council Monday, but borough council members said there might not be enough money available to finance the proposal.

Not everything that happened this week had to do with the summer, however. The borough Department of Public Works, in fact, began to look ahead to the fall, when it may need to hire seasonal employees so it can maintain essential services while its permanent workers focus on leaf collection.

Gov. Chris Christie was also looking toward the future this week. He signed a property tax cap into law that will affect the way governments and public entities do business in the future. We talked to School District of the Chathams Superintendent Jim O'Neill about what the bill might mean for the school district. We also talked to O'Neill about how contract negotiations between the district's teachers' union and the district's Board of Education are progressing.

The Board of Education was also in the news in connection with a separate matter—it rejected a resident's parking lot plan for Milton Avenue Elementary School. The borough's Planning Board had previously approved a different plan.

We continued to profile various Chatham High School graduates who stand out in one way or another. This week, we showcased , and who will play softball at Dartmouth College in the fall.

And finally, there was some interesting police news this week. Borough Councilman Joseph Marts said he was extremely angry with people who had burned an American flag at the borough's Sept. 11 memorial—he called them "scum."  We also updated you on what's been going on with the investigation into an April fatal fire on River Road—no cause has been determined.