FANWOOD — Police Director Michael Bramhall has resigned his position in order to take a position with the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office. Lieutenant Dan Kranz will now be the officer-in-charge of the department and will be tasked with overseeing its day-to-day operations.
Councilwoman Patricia Walsh announced Mr. Bramhall’s departure during a recent meeting of the borough council, saying she was “sad to see him go” after what she called an “extremely successful” tenure that began in August 2021 when Mr. Bramhall took over from former police chief Richard Trigo, who had retired 13 months earlier. In the interim, the Union County Prosecutor’s Office oversaw the department’s operations. Mr. Bramhall, said Ms. Walsh, leaves the police department in “great shape.”
Mr. Kranz, a 10-year veteran of the department and its highest-ranking sworn officer, was promoted to lieutenant in April 2021, four months after he had been elevated to the rank of sergeant. A borough native and son of former Councilman Tom Kranz, the younger Mr. Kranz was one of Fanwood’s first civilian police dispatchers and also served as a volunteer EMT on the rescue squad. Mayor Colleen Mahr last week said the governing body has “all the confidence” in Lt. Kranz.
In other business last week, Borough Administrator Jesse Moehlman recommended to the council that it increase resident and non-resident permit-parking fees at the train station by $50 next year. It has been more than 10 years since the last fee increase, he pointed out, while also noting that the annual fees will still be lower than what other towns in the area are charging commuters to park at their train stations.
At its meeting on Monday, May 20, the council is expected to introduce an ordinance revising the borough’s disorderly-conduct code to include a provision prohibiting the discharge of firearms in Fanwood. Lt. Kranz told the council last week that last July 4, a resident was outside his home and discharged his firearm, with the bullet going into a neighbor’s house. When local charges against the individual were approved, the police department was told it was not a crime under state statute, and it was recommended that the borough enact an ordinance specifically making it a prosecutable offense. “It kind of blew my mind” that Fanwood could not charge the resident last summer, Lt. Kranz admitted. The proposed ordinance also would spell out that hunting in the nature center would not be permitted.
Another ordinance will be introduced next Monday codifying in local code some of the rules and regulations at the nature center off Cray Terrace, which is marking its 50th anniversary this year. Mr. Moehlman said the rules listed on the sign at the center are not codified in borough code, and “we want to do that.”
Borough Engineer Antonios Panagopoulos said PSE&G’s installation of the new — and taller — 69kv utility poles will begin this summer and is expected to be completed by the end of the year. The new poles, which are twice as high as existing transmission poles and will carry 69,000 volts of electricity versus the current 26,000 volts, are already being installed in neighboring towns and are part of PSE&G’s effort to upgrade its electricity system to both withstand damaging storms that have been increasing in intensity in recent years and to meet increased demand for electricity. The new poles will run west along South Avenue, starting at Hetfield Avenue, and then turn north at the PSE&G right-of-way that runs to the substation in Scotch Plains.
The council also is considering whether to hire an outside firm to conduct lead-paint inspections of rental properties in Fanwood. Two years ago, the state enacted legislation requiring towns to conduct such inspections by the end of July 2024. Mr. Moehlman said that the borough has received a proposal from LEW Environmental Services to conduct the inspections at no charge; instead, the property owner will be responsible for paying the fee.
At the start of the meeting, Brady DeProspero and Giacomo Pares were sworn in as the newest members of the fire department. Mayor Mahr expressed her appreciation for the all volunteer department, which was organized in 1890. The council also issued a proclamation saluting borough resident Mary Wroblewski, who celebrated her 100th birthday on May 12.
