CRANFORD — The Cranford Township Committee will be encouraging residents to go green this Arbor Day by offering 2,000 saplings as part of a township-wide initiative to increase the number of trees within the community.
“We are inviting everybody this Saturday from 9 to 11 at Hampton Park, which is on the corner of Hampton and Eastman Street,” said John Zebrowski, chair of the township’s Shade Tree Commission, speaking during a regular meeting of the township committee on Tuesday. “You can meet the rest of the Shade Tree Commission and we’ll be planting two trees and handing out free activity booklets to kids. We will also meet Jim Nichnadowicz, who is our resident tree guru, and we will be handing out the native tree saplings for people to take home and plant in their yards, and we’ll also have some Girl Scouts there to help plant the saplings.”
Deputy Mayor Terrence Curran, Commissioner Kathleen Miller-Prunty and resident Pat Vogler have started to plant the saplings and the Girl Scouts will take over for them on Saturday. Mr. Curran also warned residents about a fox that attacked a small dog in the area surrounding 750 Walnut and spoke about the ribboncutting ceremony at Centennial Avenue Pool. Some photos of the new renovations also were shown, which include locker rooms, indoor pool lighting, and a less humid atmosphere with the new air conditioning.
The governing body also passed its 2024 municipal and capital budgets on Tuesday after a public hearing.
“This is a 4.7-million-dollar capital budget this year,” Commissioner Gina Black said, adding that the township intends to earmark roughly $3 million for road improvements and public-safety initiatives.
“Speeding is an issue in our town and we made sure to tackle the problem in our budget,” Mayor Brian Andrews said. “We issued funds to pay for police resources such as mobile signs to show how fast you’re going. We are open to ideas when it comes to the placement of these signs.”
The township also plans to add a “No Trucks” sign on Lexington Avenue. Even though there are not a lot of trucks around 750 Walnut yet, officials said that they “want to keep it that way.” They also are asking that the county perform a traffic study.
Commissioner Black said that the township has been diligent in terms of locating approximately $1.6 million in grants to help offset some of this year’s capital costs.
“The overall outcome of the general budget is an increase of five cents to every one hundred dollars of assessed value on your municipal taxes,” Ms. Black said, reminding residents that the municipality only receives about 20 to 25 percent of its annual tax-levy collections.
Business Administrator Lavona Patterson spoke about some of the challenges the township faced in creating this year’s budget while coping with rising costs.
“I’d like to thank my finance team,” Ms. Patterson said. “This is an outstanding budget, but it was really challenging. I was lucky to have Gina Black working with me this year to make sure that the residents got all the services that they really need and desire while also keeping that tax rate as low as possible.”
Mayor Andrews also addressed a recent incident in the township involving a small business that received a homophobic message, and assured residents that there is no place for hate in Cranford.
“This is not Cranford,” he said. “We are inclusive. We know it takes bravery to come out and we want our community to feel comfortable enough to be able to hang a rainbow flag.”
