(Fanwood, NJ) – Dan Kranz was sworn to the rank of Captain of the Fanwood Police Department at Monday’s Borough Council meeting. Captain Kranz is Fanwood’s chief law enforcement officer. Kranz joined the department in 2014 after serving two years as a U.S. Capitol Police Officer. He was promoted to sergeant and then to lieutenant in 2021.
Also honored at the meeting were first responders who saved someone’s life on June 23 at Borough Hall. Captain Brian Downing of Union County EMS and a member of the Fanwood Rescue Squad along with Sgt. Dan Piccola, Det. Lt. Ryan Gilmore, and Det. Daniel Hudspith of the Fanwood Police Department responded to a call of an employee at the municipal building who had collapsed and was non-responsive. The first responders administered CPR and used a defibrillator to revive them.
Coach Jennifer Carvalho and members of the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Boys Volleyball Team were recognized for winning their first NJSIAA Group 3 State Championship.
During the business portion the meeting, an ordinance was introduced on first reading to charge a fee of $50 for the issuance of duplicate tax sale certificates to lienholders.
A second ordinance was introduced that removes schools as being exempted properties from the borough’s sewer utility fees. The ordinance will have a second reading and adoption vote after a public hearing at the Monday, August 10 council meeting. LaGrande Elementary School, the borough’s first public school in decades, will open in September.
An ordinance was adopted on second reading and public hearing to readopt the borough’s tax abatement and tax exemption ordinance to a two-year sunset period. The ordinance was originally adopted in 2015.
Several Fanwood residents and a Scotch Plains resident voiced their opposition to passage of the ordinance.
A resolution was passed that authorizes a shared services agreement between Fanwood and Scotch Plains Township for chief financial officer and qualified purchasing agent services. The council passed a resolution appointing Anders Hasseler as temporary CFO retroactive to June 25, 2026.
The council approved a resolution appointing Veronica Perez as planning board secretary. She will replace Patricia Hoynes, who is retiring affective September 1.
The council approved a resolution for the borough to apply for a grant from the Union County Open Space, Recreation & Historic Preservation Trust Fund in the amount of $100,000 for the completion of tennis and pickleball court improvements at Forest Road Park. The borough will match the funding as required by the county.
Declan Cassidy of Fanwood was appointed as a member of the Fanwood Fire Department.
Director of Economic Development Elizabeth Jeffery said the borough’s economic development page on the borough’s website is being updated to show what the downtown business district used to look like with before-and-after pictures. Jeffery announced that Jessica’s Restaurant has signed a lease for the old Family Investors location for a Mediterranean specialty market.
She said the footings and foundations are expected to be put in as construction begins on first building in the Carano Square mixed-use development on the site of the former A&P supermarket location on South Avenue.
