A Message from Mayor Mahr

Today Governor Phil Murphy announced 2,289 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 for a new total of 11,124 across the state. There is one new case in Fanwood. The Governor also announced a 90-day grace period for mortgage payments for borrowers who have been economically impacted by this public health crisis. More information on the program is below.

In a release yesterday New Jersey Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker highlighted how the new federal stimulus bill will help NJ workers, small businesses, health systems, and local communities.  Both Senators have worked tirelessly with mayors and local officials to ensure our interests are well represented in Washington. More information on the emergency stimulus package is below.

I’d also like to remind residents to email me directly for assistance with anything they are struggling to navigate in this new reality. I can be reached at mayor@fanwoodnj.org.

-Mayor Colleen Mahr

Senators Summarize COVID-19 Emergency Stimulus for NJ

U.S. Senators Bob Menendez, a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee and one of the bipartisan bill negotiators, and Cory Booker, who was also involved in negotiations on the deal, have detailed how New Jersey will initially benefit from the $2 trillion stimulus package Congress passed to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read the program highlights here.

Local Counseling Center Offering Tele-therapy

In light of the current public health crisis, Resolve Community Counseling Center of Scotch Plains is discontinuing in -person counseling sessions until further notice and has announced that all sessions will be conducted through tele-therapy. The services are confidential and safe and office staff will continue to respond to phone calls at 908-322-9180 and emails at ResolveCCC@aol.com.

Anyone in need of help is encouraged to please reach out to them. For more information please visit https://www.resolvenj.com/.

Schedule Changes at Statewide Testing Centers

Starting Sunday, March 29, the Bergen Community College and PNC Bank Arts Center testing centers sites will open every other day on a staggered schedule, which can be found here. Meaning on Sunday, March 29, ONLY the testing site at Bergen County College will be open, and on Monday, March 30, ONLY the PNC Bank Arts Center site will be open, and so on. Each day these sites are open, they will be able to test 500 people starting at 8 a.m.

Starting Saturday, April 4, every Saturday the PNC Bank Arts Center site will be dedicated to symptomatic health care workers and first responders — police, fire, and EMS — with valid credentials only. The general public will not be able to access this site on Saturdays. More information at covid19/nj.gov.

Recycling Update

Due to the Coronavirus, PMUA has amended its pick-up schedules temporarily. Recycling will be collected in Fanwood on Wednesday, April 1, 2020, and Wednesday, April 15, 2020. The recycling collection change to every other Wednesday will continue for the time being during this unprecedented crisis.

Please remember to place your containers curbside the night before (Tuesday night). Again, this is only temporary, and if you should have any questions please call PMUA customer service at 908-226-2518.

Thank you for your patience.

Mortgage Relief for Borrowers

Today Governor Murphy announced a 90-day grace period for mortgage payments for borrowers economically impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak. This agreement was reached with major national mortgage lenders, including Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, U.S. Bank, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America, as well as state-charted lending institutions and mortgage servicers. For consumers who use this option, this 90-day grace period cannot and will not be used to downgrade anyone’s credit rating, and lenders will also waive any late fees, or other costs which would otherwise arise, because of this 90’day grace period. Homeowners should contact lenders directly to take advantage of this relief. These lenders are experiencing high volumes of inquiries and may recommend using online services when available.

For more information on COVID-19-related mortgage relief, please visit here: https://www.state.nj.us/dobi/covid/mortgagerelief.html

A Message from the (home) desk of the Fanwood Memorial Library Director Dan Weiss

We hope that during this national crisis all of our library patrons are safe and healthy, and we look forward to seeing you in person as soon as that is possible.

In the meantime, although the library remains closed, remember that online access to our Digital Library resources are always available. We have a lot of amazing online resources for you and your family to use while you are staying safe at home. You can find links to them all on our website, but just a few highlights include:

  • Tutor.com (connect with a live online tutor)
  • World Book Online
  • The New York Times Online
  • eBooks and Audiobooks though eLibrary NJ (thanks to the support of the Friends of the library) via Overdrive and the Libby app.
  • RBdigital resources like eBooks & Audio Books, digital magazines, streaming video.
  • Kanopy – amazing selection of streaming video, including British TV, concert videos, the Great Courses and more.
  • Rosetta Stone – learn a new language

We will be planning more online programming for everyone, so keep an eye out for that coming soon.

If you or a family member need a card you can use this form online. Please contact Dan Weiss at dweiss@fanwoodlibrary.org anytime with any other questions or concerns. And while we remain closed, PLEASE REMEMBER:

  • We will not charge any overdue fees for items due during the time that we are closed.
  • Due dates for items due 3/1 and later have been changed to 5/15 and all Holds are also suspended until 5/15.
  • Disregard any notices you may receive about items being due soon or overdue.
  • Please do not place holds on any print books at this time.
  • Borrowed items should be kept at home until we re-open.
  • If your card expires during the closure (or was previously expired) and you need to renew it, please email us at library@fanwoodlibrary.org so we can update your card.
  • Remember, your PIN should be the last 4 digits of your phone number. If it is not working, email us and we can reset it for you.
  • And if you do need to get connected, you can access our free high-speed Wi-Fi network from our parking lot anytime.