A Message from Mayor Mahr

By now all Fanwood households should have received their 2020 Census invitations.

It is vital that everyone respond to the Census. More than ever, current events demonstrate how important it is to know where  Americans reside in order to best allocate federal resources and representation.  The results of the census count inform important planning decisions for our community, such as:

  • congressional representation, including the number of congresspersons and whether or not congressional districts will be redrawn
  • allocation of health services
  • allocation of federal funding for education such as Head Start and school lunch programs, grants to support teachers and special education
  • allocation of federal funding for social supports for families, seniors and children in need, such as Medicaid and SNAP, senior housing assistance
  • allocation of infrastructure dollars, eg road construction, mass transit support, new schools, hospitals, and preserve the environment
  • allocation of federal funding for municipal services such as Emergency Services

Participation is easy and each household can choose their preferred method of response: online, by paper or over the phone. To respond, you will answer a simple questionnaire about yourself and everyone who is living in your household. To explore the questionnaire CLICK HERE.  When responding remember to include EVERYONE IN THE HOUSEHOLD. For more information visit 2020Census.gov.

Finally today, Governor Phil Murphy announced 3,649 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 for a new total of 22,255 across the state. If you’d like to track the daily updates, the state has set up a live tracker that is updated with each Governor’s briefing of the situation. In addition to displaying a live number, the tracker also shows how many people have tested negative for the virus. Please click here to view the tracker.

– Mayor Colleen Mahr

NJEDA Announces new Small Business Grant Initiative

the State of New Jersey is taking early action on a set of economic stability measures to provide short-term cash flow support to small businesses and increase overall business confidence, with the following objectives:

  • Get funding into the market as soon as possible;
  • Where possible, adjust existing NJEDA programs to address crisis needs;
  • Utilize multiple channels/partners to maximize the marketing of programs and minimize processing capacity constraints;
  • Leverage private, federal, and philanthropic capital where possible to scale impact; and
  • Provide a suite of compatible offerings to help address varied marketplace needs (e.g., grants, no-cost loans, low-cost loans, loans through intermediaries, technical assistance)

For information on grant qualifications, amount, and disbursement, please read the full NJEDA statement here.

The grant application program goes opens online this Friday, April 3, at 9:00 am. If you are a small business in Fanwood seeking additional economic aid, we suggest following the NJEDA website for instruction and applying as soon as the program goes live.

 The website to visit is business.nj.gov

State Tax Filing Moved to July 15

Governor Phil Murphy, Senate President Steve Sweeney, and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin issued the following joint statement today on the tax filing deadline and the state budget timetable:

“The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has caused hardships, financial strain, and disruptions for many New Jerseyans and New Jersey businesses. As part of our response, we have reached an agreement that the state income tax filing deadline and the corporation business tax filing deadline will be extended from April 15 to July 15,” they said in a statement.

State Update

The Attorney General is crafting guidance on religious guidance with the upcoming high holy days.

A total of 850 ventilators from the federal government have been received in New Jersey. “Millions” of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) has also been received. PPEs will be distributed to hospitals, healthcare, and first responders will be distributed from the State to the County OEM, who will distribute to the local police and Basic Lifer Services.

Construction Notice

Residents of Paterson Road, Stilo Excavating will be starting the curb installation on Paterson Road between Martine Avenue and Hunter Avenue.  There may be periods of time that you will not have access to your driveway and it is recommended that you do not drive over the new curb for at least 2 days as the concrete cures.  Should you have any questions, please contact our Borough Engineer, Antonios Panagopoulos at 973-859-5318.