Columns/Opinions

My mom was always a fan of fall. As soon as the air began to get crisp, she was at her happiest. As a child, I couldn’t understand that – all I could think was that winter was coming and that I hated snow. For most of my younger years, my favorite season was spring. I loved spring for a variety of reasons, but the top two were that my birthday is in May, and spring signaled the coming end of the school year.

Years later, as an adult with small children of my own, spring held the same appeal for me. I loved seeing the school year draw to a close, because it meant more time with my kids, long summer days outdoors, ice cream cones, the beach, and all those wonderful things that came with the warm weather.

Welcome to the Tribune!

While the West Essex Tribune’s regular readership will not notice many changes to this week’s issue, some are picking up our paper for the first time. This week’s edition is a TMC (Total Market Coverage) issue, the third of four newspapers this year that we will mail to every home in Livingston.

We who make the Tribune are so proud to work and live in a town that values community reporting, and we do our best to be an essential part of your weekly media diet. While there are many other places to get news on a state and national level, no other newspaper exclusively covers Livingston.

Joe Fiordaliso

Livingston has lost an icon with the passing of Joseph Fiordaliso. The dictionary defines an icon as “a person or thing regarded as… worthy of veneration;” and Mr. Fiordaliso certainly fit that definition. Before becoming a grandpa, he was known affectionately as “Joe Fee-o;” but once his precious grandchildren arrived he was always “Papa Joe.”

His ready smile and affable way were the gateway to his caring personality. He started his career as an educator and that desire – to teach and to help others – followed him throughout his life. A graduate of Montclair State, he taught at Vailsburg and Bloomfield High School for 18 years before founding We Drive, a service that used the client’s car to take customers to their destinations.

This coming Monday marks the 22nd anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the fall of the World Trade Center, the crash of Flight 93, and the attack on the Pentagon.

Much has changed in the decades since that terrible day, but in Livingston, each and every year, we still take the time to honor the seven township residents we lost.

Luke A. Dudek. Jeffrey Brian Gardner. Donald Thomas Jones II. Ming-Hao Liu. Joseph P. McDonald. John M. Pocher. Kenneth Albert Zelman.

These seven Livingstonites became part of a nationwide tragedy that forever altered the face of America. Our country’s confidence in the security of its citizens and its institutions was shaken to its core, and nothing has been the same since. In the years that followed, towns across the nation held ceremonies to honor the more than 3,000 people who lost their lives in the attacks, including our own service in Livingston.

Livingston’s Zoning Board will move its meetings to in-person only, beginning Tuesday, September 12. After holding its public sessions online through Zoom for several years, the Zoning Board will now return to the Town Hall chambers. Conference sessions that precede the public hearings will take place inside the nearby conference room in the same building.

This makes the Zoning Board the final governing entity in Livingston to return to in-person meetings. But unlike the Township Council and the Livingston Public Schools Board of Education, the Zoning Board currently has no plan to livestream its meetings. Like the Planning Board meetings, Zoning Board meetings are expected to be uploaded to the town’s YouTube page at a later date.

This week, the Tribune received a letter from Linda Bloomstein of Penwood Road, who wrote to applaud the Livingston Police and Public Works Departments.

“During a recent thunderstorm, a large tree branch fell on numerous wires in front of my house,” Bloomstein wrote. “Not knowing exactly what to do, I called the police, who filed a report with Jersey Central. Jersey Central followed up and cut the branch, leaving it on my front lawn. Again, not knowing exactly what to do, I called the police a second time.

“The Livingston Department of Public Works received the police report and, within two hours, two large trucks arrived. The men meticulously chopped, ground, and cleaned away all the sawdust.”

She concluded, “This may seem like a small incident to write about, but it symbolizes what makes Livingston such a special place to live.”

• • •

Dear Editor:

I just noticed today that a tree is growing atop the chimney at the Burnet [Hill] School.

It has obviously been there for a long time because it looks to be around two- to three-feet tall.

This is a safety concern because the roots of the tree may work into the mortar and loosen bricks, which could then fall if the chimney crumbles.

Also, if the tree’s roots are obstructing fumes from exiting the chimney, carbon monoxide, smoke, and other noxious gases may accumulate in the school and cause sickening. Fred Schreiber Larkspur Place

An Engaged Community

In the past few years, several ordinances have been considered by the Township Council that will pave the way for the construction of multi-story buildings comprising dozens of housing units. Most, if not all, of these ordinances were part of an effort to fulfill the township’s affordable housing obligations (read our FAQ article in this edition of the Tribune for more information about this issue). Some of these ordinances were met with more pushback than others. Many of them were approved, while the few that were not approved typically had more public objections, in the form of a handful of upset residents or a lawyer hired on their behalf in an attempt to halt or alter the proposed plan.

Dear Editor: This is my 50th year as a volunteer in Livingston. I started in 1973, joining the FirstAid Squad. Shortly after that, I joined the Fire Department, and left after 46 years.

Over the years, I have been on many committees such as the Parade Committee, the Little Pond Ice Skating Committee, and the Senior Advisory Committee. I have also been involved in town recreational softball and volleyball programs.

To this day, I am still active in Fire Department activities and still serve on various committees.

Recently, I received a presidential award for volunteerism. Anthony Del Tufo Hazel Avenue

Dear Editor:

Does Livingston need the 45 South Livingston Avenue redevelopment project? The density for this location will be greater than any other area in town. Why do we need such density close to one of the town’s busiest intersections? Exiting from Arden onto South Livingston Avenue can be very difficult around 4 p.m. That is already quite far from the intersection. How will 276 apartments complicate this equation?

The main reason people move to Livingston is the schools. I recall reading in the Tribune that families usually do not rent two bedroom apartments. Will that still be the case for families that want to move here for the schools? Is our school system ready to absorb so many families and school children? How are we doing meeting the current population’s needs?