West Essex Tribune

The Monday, March 7, meeting of the Livingston Township Council was held in-person at Town Hall for the first time in nearly two years. Meetings have been livestreamed since March of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was a very jovial first meeting back for both the Council and members of the public. “It’s great to be back among our

“It’s great to be back among our residents,” said Mayor Ed Meinhardt, who twice thanked everyone working in town over the past two years through the COVID pandemic. “A lot has changed, and we have a lot of things to be thankful for in this town… we are very appreciative of all the hard work.”

The meetings will continue to be livestreamed and later reviewable on the Livingston Township, NJ Facebook page. However, there appear to have been audio issues on the livestream during this first meeting back, making the meeting difficult to hear for those watching from home.

VALEDICTORIANS: Two Livingston High School seniors have tied for the top class rank and have been named co-valedictorians of the Class of 2022. Charles Yu and Alan Zhu both achieved top academic honors. LPS Photo

The Livingston Planning Board met remotely on Thursday, March 3, to hear a request for an extension of a resolution. Also on the agenda was an application, which was adjourned, for a minor subdivision with variances on South Livingston Avenue.

Extension of Resolution

Kenny Praval received an extension of a final major subdivision approval, granted in March of 2018, for property at 284 West Hobart Gap Road. The original resolution granted preliminary and final site plan approval with bulk variances for the subdivision of a parcel to allow a four-lot subdivision. Action on the project has been delayed due to the pandemic.

Praval was granted an extension of one year, through March of 2023.

So. Livingston Ave. Subdivision

The Board was also scheduled to hear an application by George Reinhardt for a minor subdivision of the property located at 423 South Livingston Avenue.

Close to 250 people from Livingston and nearby towns attended a rally at the Oval on Saturday afternoon in support of Ukraine.

Many in the crowd called out “Slava Ukraini,” meaning “Glory to Ukraine,” and hummed along with a recording of the Ukrainian anthem.

The rally had been organized in three days by Ruslan Karpenko and other members of the Livingston Ukranian community, along with Max Ryvkin from Westfield.

“We are constantly looking for support, and to raise awareness and information,” said Karpenko. Community leaders attending the

Community leaders attending the rally included Deputy Mayor Michael Vieira, Council members Shawn Klein, Al Anthony, and Rudy Fernandez, Essex County commissioner Pat Sebold, Board of Education member Samantha Messer, and assemblyman John McKeon. Mayor Ed Meinhardt was out of town.

Elaine Shapiro (nee Schwartz) of Roseland, formerly of Livingston, died March 5 after a prolonged battle with complications of Alzheimer’s disease. She was 79 years old.

Mrs. Shapiro was born October 30, 1942, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She attended nursing school in Philadelphia and started her nursing career as an emergency room nurse at a hospital in Center City, Philadelphia.

Prior to Roseland, Mrs. Shapiro had lived in Livingston for 31 years, where she raised her family. She was an active member of the Sisterhood of Temple B’nai Abraham.

Predeceased by her brother, Robert Schwartz, she is survived by her husband, Stanley; their children, Kenneth (Peggy) Shapiro, Elissa (Jonathan) Goldblatt, and Cheryl Shapiro Eckert; and eight grandchildren.

The funeral service took place Tuesday, March 8, under the direction of the Bernheim-Apter-Kreitzman Suburban Funeral Chapel. Interment took place at B’nai Abraham Cemetery in Union.

Mary Saul (née Carpenter), a former longtime resident of Livingston, died at her home on Sunday February 27. She was 96 years old.

Mrs. Saul was born in Hackensack to Mary and Michael Carpenter, and raised in Westwood and Hillsdale. She lived in Rochester, New York; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin before settling in Livingston, where she lived for 47 years before moving to East Hanover.

Mrs. Saul was a member of the Music Ministry at St. Philomena’s Parish in Livingston, which performed for Pope John Paul II, and of the Newark Archdiocesan Festival Choir.

SOFTBALL CLINIC: The Livingston High School softball team, as a fundraiser, held a fielding and hitting clinic for the 8U through 12U North Jersey Thunder travel softball teams. The clinic was held on Saturday, March 5, at SNK Sports Facility in Fairfield. The fundraiser was run by the Livingston High School softball team in collaboration with the North Jersey Thunder organization’s coaches. The younger players enjoyed hearing about how the current high school players started out as Thunder players. Shown at left, LHS team captain Haley Meierhofer offers instruction.

Starting in May, many single use bags and containers will be banned in New Jersey, after Governor Phil Murphy signed legislation to address plastic pollution in the state. One of the strongest bans in the nation, it prohibits the use of single use plastic and paper bags, as well as Styrofoam containers and cups. Additional items that are more specific and challenging for businesses to replace – like prepackaged food service products and trays for butchered meat – will be exempt for an additional two years, until they are also banned in May of 2024.

This issue appeared to be coming to the forefront right before the pandemic, in 2019 and early 2020, before it was understandably moved to the back burner. At that time, several Livingston Township Council meetings featured discussions with a plastics committee, which included residents and local business owners, about how to implement these changes in town.

Bessie J. Bauers (née Amundsen), 93, of Livingston, passed away on March 2, 2022.

Funeral Services were held under the direction of Shook-Farmer Funeral Home, Roseland, New Jersey, shookfarmer.com.

Born and raised in Union, in 1966 she and her dear husband, Edward, moved and settled in Livingston, New Jersey. Prior to her retirement, she was a supervisor for Prudential Life Insurance Co. She was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star. She is pre-deceased by her be

She is pre-deceased by her beloved husband, Edward B. Bauers and her sister, Lydia Amundsen.

Surviving are her cherished neighbors and friends.

Livingston Police officers are investigating a residential burglary that occurred last week, as well as a separate vehicle burglary.

A Dartmouth Court home was burglarized sometime between Monday, February 21, and Wednesday, February 23.

The rear sliding door had been smashed and entry was gained to the residence. A list of the missing items is still being completed by the homeowner.

On Wednesday, February 23, a vehicle was burglarized in the rear lot of 57 East Mt. Pleasant Avenue, a building housing several commercial businesses. An employee at one of the stores

An employee at one of the stores returned to her vehicle after work and found the window broken. Some personal belongings had been stolen.

The investigations remain active.