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Residents raise safety, maintenance and accessibility concerns; council agrees to pilot closed captions for borough TV
Summary
During public comment Fair Lawn residents urged action on overgrown NJ Transit property and a fallen tree; the council also agreed to pilot closed captioning of council (and possibly Board of Education) meetings on Fair Lawn TV to improve accessibility.
Residents used the June 23 public‑comment period at the Fair Lawn Mayor and Council meeting to press officials for maintenance and safety action, and the council reached consensus to pilot closed captioning for borough video broadcasts.
Tree and maintenance concerns: Resident Michael and Sandra Page described a large tree from New Jersey Transit property that split and fell onto their yard; they said it missed their house narrowly and expressed concern about other neglected trees and vegetation that have created mosquito problems and encroached through the fence. The mayor asked the resident to provide address and photographs and said borough staff would contact New Jersey Transit and state representatives to seek remedial action.
Landscape and historic‑site process: Resident Hallie Mark urged the borough to ensure licensed landscape architects are engaged for significant site plans, citing past local projects. Borough officials confirmed the borough uses licensed landscape architects on major projects and said the historic‑preservation commission reviews work at the Naugle House.
Closed captioning pilot: In new business council members and borough staff discussed pricing for closed captioning on Far Lawn TV. Borough Manager Kurt Peluso described a proposed pilot to caption council meetings (and possibly Board of Education videos if provided) to test costs and workflow; council members gave consensus to start closed captioning for council meetings as soon as possible and to extend to board meetings subject to budget and logistics.
Other resident notes: Public comments also included questions about the Nabisco site (planning status), and thanks to staff for improved lighting on Route 208. Borough staff indicated that changes to the Nabisco site would require planning-board review if the project changes from the approved site plan.
Next steps: Borough staff will follow up with the Page family about the tree and coordinate with New Jersey Transit; the manager and staff will proceed with a closed‑captioning pilot for council meetings and return cost and implementation details to the council.
