Residents Press Council Over PSE&G Outages as Three Ordinances Are Finally Adopted

With the full council present, three ordinances that had been introduced at prior meetings were finally adopted without opposition: No. 1777 (capital improvement fund appropriations), No. 1778 (amending the vehicles and traffic chapter), and No. 1779 (designating stop intersections). Mayor Patrick also proclaimed October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and opened the meeting by thanking Administrator Michael Zichelli and staff for their work on a water main emergency and repairs earlier that week, which Zichelli briefed the council on.

Multiple residents — Linda Trojanowski, David Camacho, and Henry Pasapera — used public comment to describe frequent PSE&G power outages and a failing electrical grid affecting their neighborhood, including damage to appliances, and asked the council for assistance; Frank Rhoda separately raised speeding and visibility concerns on Ridgewood Avenue. Councilor Hughes reported that the borough's insurance carrier, represented by Bruce Roddy, had presented a coverage review at a recent workshop.

The council approved a social affair permit for a "We've Got Friends" fundraiser at the Country Club (conditioned on amending the application to include wine and beer service) and a raffle license for the Gas Lamp Players. In department updates, Councilor Mans thanked crews for completing emergency water line repairs and reported paving was set to begin on Midland Avenue, with train station repairs in their final stages; Chief Quinn noted Essex County would be paving Belleville Avenue overnight.

What to watch

• Borough response to resident complaints about recurring PSE&G power outages and grid reliability
• Midland Avenue paving and train station repair completion
• Overnight paving of Belleville Avenue by Essex County