JACKSON – Township officials recognized members of the Jackson Police Department who were promoted recently and they voiced their opinion on the governor’s mandate for masking up students and school staff for the new school year.
Council President Andrew Kern welcomed both senior and junior officers of the force and thanked them “for doing what you do in keeping us safe.” Kern noted his nephew had become a police officer in recent weeks. “I want to say thank you to all the families. Thank you so much for letting these officers leave your home so they can protect the residents of our township and take care of us.”
Police Chief Matthew Kunz then introduced the four officers who were recently promoted to the rank of sergeant. They include Alex Crinnan who will be assigned as a patrol supervisor on the department’s midnight shift. Darin McClain’s promotion to sergeant will see him assigned as a supervisor to the midnight shift.
Also promoted was Andrea Falzarano who will be assigned as the afternoon shift patrol supervisor. David Watson was also promoted and will continue oversight of the department’s policies and accreditation. While he could not be present at the council meeting where the officers were recognized, a cardboard life-sized cutout of the officer stood in his place for photos with Chief Kunz and the governing body.
“Thank you, Council President Kern, for putting us at the front of your agenda. In speaking to him I know he is very excited about these promotions,” the chief said.
Council Members Criticize Masking Mandate
“Our state’s tyrannical governor imposed a mask mandate for all school age students for the upcoming school year. I can’t keep up with all his executive orders. Parents should be deciding whether their kids should be wearing masks or not, not the government,” Councilman Nino Borrelli said.
Echoing Borrelli’s comments, Councilman Steven Chisholm said, “New Jersey often gets a bad rap, sometimes deservedly so. Sometimes that comes in the form of our inept politicians such as King Phillip. If you don’t believe his mindset than you are okay with killing children. That is absolutely false. To think it is an either-or situation is absurdly ridiculous.”
Second Solar Lease Project
The Council authorized the second utility scale solar project on township property known as the “desert” of Jackson and “a place that would cost the township a million dollars will soon be producing hundreds of thousands of dollars per year in land lease revenue,” Council President Kern said.
The project will upgrade the township’s infrastructure and resilience after storms impact the energy grid, he said. “The risk to the citizens of Jackson will be zero. The cost to the taxpayers to get this project started will be zero dollars. This project will be at least three times larger than the original project and it’s finally nearing completion after being stalled for a number of years.”
Kern said for the next 15 years revenue from this second solar project would be put into the general fund to offset the tax burden.
National Night Out A Success
Councilman Borrelli noted members of the council and Mayor Michael Reina had during the township’s recent National Night Out event held in August. “Thanks go out to the JTPD and our local fire and emergency organizations for making it such a great event for a great town.”
Councilman Chisholm also called Jackson National Night Against Crime “a fantastic event. I don’t know how many people were there but we had at least a thousand. It looked like a great night all over and I look forward to doing it again next year.”
Councilman Alex Sauickie also noted the success of National Night Out “We were lucky to get an absolutely beautiful night. Well over a thousand people showed up.”
Contracts Authorized
A $21,900 Community Development Block Grant project for the township senior center’s back road renovations was finalized by the governing body in a unanimous vote. T&M Associates will do the engineering services.
A $46,000 contract with T&M Associates was also approved for various turf field replacements in Jackson. The firm was also authorized to perform engineering work for a road improvement project in the amount of $50,585.
