Civic Duty, Volunteerism to be Honored Monday

Former senator, youth wrestlers to be congratulated by Chatham Council Monday

The Chatham Borough Council will vote on several resolutions recognizing the accomplishments of local residents and allowing for volunteers to hold traditional parades down Main Street, and will allow public presentations by several volunteer organizations at its meeting Monday One resolution on the agenda recognizes Leanna Brown, the former state senator who began her political career on the Chatham Borough Council. Brown remains a borough resident to this day. Another congratulates Chatham Youth Wrestling for winning the 2012 Holiday Tournament, and another supports the annual Susan G. Komen North Jersey Race for the Cure, which will be held May 5. The council will then go into closed session to discuss pending litigation against TriCare…

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Borough Voicemail Function Goes Down

The Chatham Borough municipal phones is experiencing "trouble" Friday, police say.

The Chatham Borough Police said telephones at the Borough Municipal Building are having "technical difficulties" Friday. In the process of updating the telephone system to the municipal building, certain functions of the phone system have gone down, police said. Telephone lines are still operational and residents can continue to call during normal business hours, according to police, but the voicemail function is no longer working. According to an email from Police Chief Philip J. Crosson, voicemail will likely stay down until Wednesday. "We will make every effort to receive all incoming calls in the interim and we do appreciate your patience," the official borough statement reads. The problem extends to the Chatham Borough Police …

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Borough Sign Ordinance up for Final Approval

After more than a year, the council prepares to vote on a final set of changes to the sign ordinance.

Among the items up for approval at the Chatham Borough Council meeting Tuesday is, at last, a final set of changes for the sign ordinance. The ordinance outlines the guidelines for signs throughout the business, industrial and residential zones of the borough, including which signs require permits, how long signs can be kept on display and what times of the year different signs can appear. Properties with signs that violate the ordinance will receive notification from the borough's Zoning Officer, Vincent J. DeNave. The ordinance specifically forbids any policitcal signs from being posted in front of the Chatham Borough Municipal Building or the Library of the Chathams. Additionally, every tax lot is allowed only 1 sign per candidate per …

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Council Considers 2 Grants for Kings Road

The Chatham Borough Council meets at 7:30 p.m. Monday.

The Chatham Borough Council will vote on whether to apply for two grants to improve safety along Kings Road. The grants, both offered by the state Department of Transportation, would give the borough a combined $383,394 to improve traffic and pedestrian safety along Kings Road, which has been one of the Traffic Safety Committee's top projects this year. The committee sent a survey to the residents of Kings Road asking for their opinions on what improvements should be made to the roadway to improve safety. Council member Jim Collander, who serves as the liaison to the Traffic Safety Committee, said residents were slow in responding over the summer, but the committee now has enough responses to warrant a meeting scheduled for Tuesday night. …

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Contract Awarded for Pool, Park Renovations

Summit-based Z-Tech Contracting Inc. submitted the lowest bid at about $840K for Memorial Park.

The Chatham Borough Council unanimously voted to award the contract for improvements to Memorial Pool, Memorial Park and the adjacent parking lot to the Summit-based Z-Tech Contracting Inc. Monday evening for the final fee of $840,224.50. The project includes piping and grounds improvement to the Chatham Borough Municipal Pool, changes to the decking around the pool, enlarging the kiddie pool to be about 40 percent bigger than it currently is, raising its elevation to the same level as the main pool, and some retaining walls to support the elevation. The total for this portion of the project is $387,262.50, the amount borough voters approved in the November 2010 election. Changes to the park include a new multi-purpose field put between …

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Retail Services, Trade Distinction to Continue in Borough

The Planning Board reviewed suggestions from the professional planner about possible alterations to the borough's B-1 zone.

Susan Blickstein, the new professional planner to the Planning Board, presented a memo at the board meeting Wednesday night with her comments and suggestions for improvements to the borough's business districts. Blickstein asked that the board consider whether the board wanted to alter the definition of retail services to include retail trade or sales as well. The current definition of a retail services business is, from Blickstein's memo, an "establishment providing services, as opposed to products, to the general public." It includes, but is not limited to, real estate agencies, travel agencies, insurance agencies, social services, financial agencies and health and education services. The difference between retail services and retail …

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Five Things You Need To Know Today

Recycling, PTO Meetings and Healthy Living

And other essential information for Wednesday, May 18, 2011.

If you need some ideas on how to spend a rainy day in Chatham, check out the Five Things You Need to Know Today: For other information worth knowing, see the Chatham Patch events calendar and announcements section—and if you've got something the community should know, don't forget to make a post of your own in one or both of those site sections.

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Library Gets Its Own Tax, But Borough Tax Increase Remains at 3.13%

Statewide legislation determines that libraries will get their own line on property taxes.

The Chatham Borough Council approved a resolution to introduce the municipal budget Monday night. The budget went through some changes since Tammie Kopin, the borough's chief financial officer, first presented it at the March 14 council meeting, the most notable change pertaining to the library tax. Last week, Gov. Chris Christie signed a bill that will give local libraries their own tax funding independent of municipalities. In the Chathams, residents will now see the library as a separate line item on their property taxes, along with schools, municipal taxes and county taxes. In the borough, the minimum library tax amounts to $757,825.24. Another $17,000 was added to the budget for debt service. "We would have had to add $200,000 if we …

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Green Bags Still in Use Until April

The Borough Council expects to approve a new vendor at the next meeting on Feb. 28.

Chatham Borough residents can expect to have a new garbage vendor – and possibly a new color for their garbage bags – starting at the end of April, according the Mayor Nelson Vaughan. A decision from the Superior Court of Morris County, Appellate Division handed down Wednesday stated that the Chatham Borough Council was free to choose a new garbage vendor, despite allegations of unfair treatment from Suburban Disposal, Inc. Vaughan said he expects that the council will approve a new vendor at the next public meeting on Feb. 28. At that time, the color of the bags may change. New bags will go on sale at King's Supermarket on Main Street and at Dreyer's Lumber & Hardware, Inc. on Watchung Avenue once a new color has been determined. Suburban…

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V. Nelson Vaughan, III

3:48 pm on Monday, February 21, 2011

The savings to tax payers will be in keeping the general tax rate lower as the solid waste (garbage) contract to be signed will be less and the funds to pay the contract come from property taxes from Borough residents. Any savings will be passed along to residents via lower property taxes. Sorry, I can not come up with a number yet.   more ›

Five Things You Need To Know Today

Appreciate Being Single Day

Everything you need to know to get you through your day.

If you are single, the only redeeming thing about Valentine's Day is that it falls on a Monday this year. But you probably did not know that there is a holiday for you, too! That is where Chatham Patch comes in, providing you with all the information you need to get you through your day: Editor's Note: The Recycling Depot has only two days in the year where electronics can be recycled. The next date is June 3. A previous version of this article stated that electronics could be recycled at the depot this weekend.

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