FANWOOD – The borough council this week reacted to the planned dissolution of the Plainfield Municipal Utilities Authority (PMUA) by planning the approval of a resolution declaring an emergency that will allow it to solicit bids for recycling services and bypass normal bidding procedures.

Last month, Plainfield Mayor Adrian Mapp announced plans to dissolve the utility, which he called “a 25-year-old failed experiment” and which has been providing recycling services to Fanwood households, among other towns.

At the borough council’s agenda meeting on Monday evening, Mayor Colleen Mahr noted that Clark Township also had ended its recycling relationship with PMUA and “we are following suit.” She said more information would be provided at the council’s Monday, December 20 meeting.

In other business, the council at its next meeting plans to authorize a contract to General Code, LLC to conduct what Borough Administrator Rayna Harris said would be a “deep dive” into the borough’s codes and ordinances, which have not been comprehensively updated since 1971. The analysis also will ensure that Fanwood’s codes and ordinances are consistent with current state and federal laws.

At Monday’s meeting, the council authorized the purchase of a new vehicle for the public works department at a cost not to exceed $33,823 and also reauthorized its shared-services agreement with Garwood for public works services for 2022, 2023 and 2024. Councilwoman Erin McElroy Barker said the funds for the vehicle had already been earmarked in this year’s budget. Another resolution was approved to purchase two new vehicles for the police department at a cost not to exceed $76,049. Ms. McElroy Barker said the budget had earmarked funds for one of the vehicles while funds for the other vehicle, which will replace a vehicle destroyed in Hurricane Ida in September, will come from insurance and other emergency funding from outside sources.

Councilwoman Katherine Mitchell reminded residents to continue wearing masks and taking other precautions because “we are still getting Covid cases.” It is expected that a pop-up booster clinic will be organized in Fanwood in the coming weeks by the Westfield Regional Health Department.