Politics & Government

In April Message, Mayor Keffer Looks at Changes Brought on by Spring

Message emphasizes cleaning, renewal.

In his latest monthly message, Springfield Mayor Hugh Keffer shares his love of Spring. While celebrating the season, he notes upcoming programs and events being put on by the Springfield garden club and the library. He notes that the township Department of Public Works will facilitate the tradition of Spring clean-ups by picking up leaf bags.

In addition, he runs down recent government actions, including the recent passing of the Township budget. The full message is below.

------------------------------------------------

Find out what's happening in Springfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

I love springtime. I get a chance to see people, especially young people, I haven’t seen since autumn.  The babies are now walking. Kids who played football in the street are on their bikes riding out of the neighborhood. A few of the kids  I saw on bikes last year are now behind the wheel learning to drive. As my dad used to say, “tempus fugit.”

On March 17th, my children, who are older, invited friends over to share a meal of Irish foods, dance in the living room, sing and build a human pyramid on the front lawn. Laughter in spring is good to hear.

Find out what's happening in Springfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

My senior friends are also stepping out for spring. Vincent De Gaetano, President of the Springfield Garden Club announced the Club will be holding its spring fund raiser on Saturday, May 1 from 9 am to 4 pm on the lawn of the Library. The Club will be selling flowers and handing out advice. If you are planning a garden at home, this is a chance to share ideas, swap stories and support a worthy cause.

On the same weekend, the Library will hold a program on penguins. Sue Permahos, the library director, told me there will be a live penguin.  Do penguins eat flowers?

Around home, spring is time for yard clean up. The Department of Public Works will again pick up leaf bags at curb side during the month of April. Starting in May, grass should be bagged and dropped into the town’s garbage truck at the DPW property on Mondays and Thursdays from 7:30 am to 9 am.

For anyone cleaning out a closet or basement, quarterly bulk pick up is scheduled for March and June. Please see the DPW web page for details. In addition, old electronics such as computers, VCRs, calculators, but not microwave ovens, washers or dryers, may be discarded on the first Saturday of each month behind the town pool. Union County will pick up these items to recycle the electronics safely.

Finally, spring is a great time to share. If you know of an elderly neighbor, get reacquainted, even offer to plant flowers in your neighbor’s yard. It will cheer someone up and make the town look more springlike.

  Township Digest Mayor Keffer proclaimed April as Donate a Life Month citing the Committee at Overlook Hospital which works to make people aware of the need for organ and tissue donations.

 

April 12 Meeting

  • The Township Committee passed the 2011 budget. The final budget remained under the legal cap and despite a 17% increase in RVSA fees there will be no seperate sewer charge in 2011. 
  • The Township Committee approved an ordiance which launched the town-wide SID (Special Improvement District). The SID is a a way for local businesses to contribute to the improvement of the our commercial areas. Many residents and local busines owners came to the meeting to express their opinions and the final ordiance accounted for many of their concerns.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here