Glen Ridge Confirms Affordable-Housing Filings Met Deadline, Preserving Builder's-Remedy Protection
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The council opened by presenting Boy Scout Troop 55 -- led by Scoutmaster Dan Kopek, senior patrol leader Christian Kopek, and assistant senior patrol leader Neville Kendalwala -- with a proclamation honoring scouts who volunteered to shovel snow and clear walkways for Glen Ridge senior citizens during the winter of 2026. Recreation Director Jim Cowan had brought the troop's efforts to the council's attention.
When the council took its roll-call vote to approve the March 9 meeting minutes, it passed 4-0, with Councilman Low and Councilman Turiano abstaining.
In finance business, the council unanimously approved Resolution 71-26, authorizing about $8.9 million in current-fund payments, including roughly $5.9 million passed through to the Board of Education and $2.4 million to Essex County as part of the borough's role collecting and distributing property taxes. Members also unanimously approved a $45,462.75 purchase of Mohawk tire-mounting and balancing equipment for the Department of Public Works fleet through a state cooperative contract, funded by capital ordinances 1718 and 1824.
Councilman Turiano reported a positive joint meeting with Mountainside Hospital -- alongside the mayor, public works, and police -- about community engagement and the hospital's sewer system upkeep. Councilwoman Moody, the council's liaison to the Environmental Advisory Committee, said the committee organized an outreach session and cleanup with the state Department of Environmental Protection on Saturday, March 21, 2026, for a planned new state park running through town, including volunteer knotweed removal; DEP said it would hold further outreach events in the future. Borough Attorney John Malyska confirmed the borough's affordable-housing filings were submitted by the March 16, 2026 deadline (misstated once during the meeting as May 16 before being corrected), preserving the town's protection from builder's-remedy lawsuits through 2035, with a final compliance hearing date still awaited from the court.
In lighter business, the Municipal Clerk officiated her first wedding as a Glen Ridge official on Friday, March 20, 2026, and was recognized for a certification from the International Clerks Association; the police department and clerk's office also met to streamline the process for raffle-license applications, which the schools rely on heavily.
What to watch
- A special election is scheduled for Thursday, April 16, 2026.
- The borough is awaiting a court-set date for its final affordable-housing compliance hearing.
Watch key moments
- 1:35 — Boy Scout Troop 55 proclamation