The Week in Union County

Every week, Patch takes a look back at the biggest news in Union County Patch towns. Read on to find out more on MusicFest, 9/11, and back to school.

Clark

The Union County Fair and MusicFest kicked off on Thursday in Clark's Oak Ridge Park. The five-day event featured rides and games, plus music from local bands and headliners like Blondie and Collective Soul. Check out our photo galleries from nights , two,  three and four. Check out these videos as well.

In other news, Clark and Garwood commemorated the 10th anniversary of 9/11 with memorials this week.

Berekeley Heights

The Mountainside Board of Education has voted in a new Chief School Administrator at the Beechwood School in Mountainside. Dr. Nancy Lubarsky, who has served as the Superintendent of Schools in Bethlehem Township, NJ, for the last three years, will begin her new role Nov. 14.  

Dr. Jeanette Baubles will continue to serve as Superintendent until Nov. 3, 2011.  

James Ruban Jr., President of the Board of Education, told the dozens of parents and teachers in attendance that the decision to appoint Lubarsky came about through a collaborative process that involved not only board members, but many parents and members of the community.

Lubarsky has over 25 years experience in education with expertise in the language arts, reading, social studies and mathematics. She earned a master’s degree and a doctorate in English & Language Arts at Rutgers University, and a second master’s degree as a Reading Specialist at Montclair State University.

Cranford

What began as a meeting intended to address concerns over the Birchwood Avenue development, turned into an evaluation of flooding issues after Hurricane Irene and Cranford's post-storm cleanup effort. Eric Mason, police chief and acting township administrator, said the township has been at work six days a week cleaning up what Irene left behind. The town will be contracting private sectors to help in the clean-up and 75 percent of the costs will be covered by FEMA, according to town officials.

Cranford residents and businesses showed their generosity Tuesday by donating school supplies for our Cranford Patch to School event. The day began in the morning at Orange Avenue School, where Principal Michelle Vella and her staff welcomed the Patch staff and helped us set up in the gym. With help from the community, we spent the morning filling backpacks with pens, pencils, folders, notebooks, glue sticks, erasers, looseleaf paper and other supplies for local children in need. In the afternoon, Hillside Avenue School Principal Curt Fogas and his staff showed Patch their hospitality as we continued the process of collecting items from local community members and businesses and filling the backpacks.

New Providence

The U.S. Department of Education named as a 2011 National Blue Ribbon School on Thursday morning, along with 304 other schools nationwide. Superintendent of Schools Dr. David Miceli  to the Board of Education on Thursday night, noting that New Providence was selected for this recognition, the highest federal ranking a school can receive, for having sustained high achievement over several years. A total of 413 schools were nominated nationwide and were invited to submit an application. Out of the 305 schools selected as National Blue Ribbon Schools, 256 are public schools, 49 are private schools. There were only 14 schools for this recognition from New Jersey.

 Monday night, dealing with the replacement of the borough’s telephone system and repair of an alarm system, an investigation into the conduct of JCP&L, and commending emergency personnel and volunteers for their work during and after the storm. In a draft of the resolution regarding the conduct of JCP&L, Lee Soloman, President of the Board of Public Utilities, states that if the review, which will include public hearings, indicates that adequate preparations were not made before the storm and adequate resources were not dedicated to deal with the aftermath of the storm, then the BPU will hold the utilities company accountable. Following the hurricane, circuit boards for the Municipal Center phone system, including the police department's phone system, was damaged "the equipment was so old that replacement of the circuit boards just didn’t make sense,” said Council President Michael Gennaro. Therefore, the borough replaced the system at a cost of $31,852 under emergency conditions just days after Irene and council formally ratified the action at the meeting.

Scotch Plains

Scotch Plains Soccer Star Signs with MLS's Seattle Sounders: Persistence has paid off for former Scotch Plains soccer star Bryan Meredith, who signed a contract with the Seattle Sounders FC of Major League Soccer (MLS) on Monday after playing most of the season with the Kitsap Pumas team of the USL Premier Development League. .

Springfield

Jonathan Dayton High School’s Athletics programs kicked off this week with mixed results. With many players from last year’s historically successful football team graduated, the Varsity football team looked lost in their season opener. The final score was an uneven 48-13 split. Despite the early season , Dayton Joe Goerge wasn’t deterred, and pledged to look towards the future. 

The varsity boy’s soccer team got off to a much more positive note, with a resounding victory . The Bulldogs constantly shot at Boonton’s goalposts, but kept the defense tight, only allowing two shots on their own goal. 

Summit

The Connection held a grand re-opening on Saturday, September 10th.

Attendees toured the new facility starting with the smart, easily-accessed entrance and drop off area, sunlight drenched lobby, and brand new Fitness Center, nearly doubled in size. The tour included fully renovated locker and shower room facilities for men, women, and families. Parents especially will enjoy the improved access to the pool, which allows dry access for class observations and separate family changing areas.

Common Council

The Common Council reflected on a successful emergency response to hurricane Irene at Town Hall on Wednesday night, and discussed how its response could have improved.

"I have never seen more cooperation among people in town," said resident Robert Bendock. "But going forward what we need to do is to lay out a succinct plan. I think that communication would be the only area where you would find criticism from the public." 

While the city did have an emergency response plan, and did carry it out, all discussion eventually gravitated to Jersey Central Power & Light’s slow response to restoring power to the city.

“Until they were able to martial the right kinds of resources, which took a lot longer than any of us would have liked, and until they were able to better communicate with all of their forces,  it meant that certain areas of the city   people were without power for a lot longer than they should have been and we had the associated hazards,” Cotter said. 

Westfield

Parents outraged over busing mishaps during the first week of school made their concerns known during a Board of Education meeting Tuesday night. The busing problems included leaving students stranded, unsupervised and dropped off in wrong locations.

After a meeting among school officials, bus officials and parents Wednesday, the BOE decided to add another bus route to the system.