WESTWOOD—The mayor and Borough Council congratulated the 10U girls summer travel softball team as champions, giving each player a certificate of achievement, and provided updates on the pandemic and memorial signs and benches at its regular public meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 17.
And the governing body called for coaches and additional teams to get in on the first annual Haydn Sterling Smith Memorial Basketball Tournament, set for Sept. 11 at Hegeman Park.
All members were in attendance at the Municipal Center except for Chris Montana, who participated over the phone.
Ordinances 21-10 through 21-21 were also unanimously approved, notably including the establishment of a senior services program manager (and starting the process of hiring someone to run the senior services program) and an assistant borough administrator.
Two ordinances were introduced and passed on first reading: one amending rules on peddling and soliciting, and another providing for the improvements to Kingsberry Avenue and related expenses and appropriating $146,000 to be received from the 2020 community development block grant and appropriating $40,000 from the borough’s Capital Fund surplus.
Covid cases up
During his report, Mayor Raymond Arroyo reported that 64% of eligible residents are fully vaccinated, a 1% increase since July 20. As of Aug. 17, he said, 83% of residents 18–64 and 98% of residents 65 and older are vaccinated with one dose of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
At the Hackensack Meridian Health Pascack Valley Medical Center, Arroyo said there are six patients hospitalized with Covid-19 — one presumed, and five confirmed — who are all unvaccinated. Their ages range 34–71.
“I’m sure that the recent interest in Delta and Delta’s spread has gotten more people interested in vaccinations,” Arroyo said. “I urge people who are on the fence to consider the numbers and consider the science, and make the right decision for themselves.”
In July, Arroyo added his cheers to the selection of his nominee, resident Lisa McKoy, as a local Fifth District Hometown Hero. McKoy helped lead a group of Westwood Borough volunteers assisting Hackensack Meridian Health Pascack Valley Medical Center on Westwood’s vaccination days.
“She worked long hours and went door-to-door in her neighborhood to reach out to seniors without social media, helping get hundreds of Westwood seniors, residents, teachers, and workers vaccinated,” Arroyo said at the time.
He told Pascack Press, “Working with Cheryl Hodges, our council liaison, the hospital staff and a small group of hardworking volunteers, the borough managed to vaccinate over 700 of our people — at a time when vaccine was scarce and appointments difficult to come by.”
Memorial garden gains ground
At the Aug. 17 council meeting, Council President Beth Dell also highlighted Celebrate Westwood’s proposal to create a memorial garden near the third base line of the back baseball field in order to recognize residents lost in the pandemic. The group proposed a pollinator garden with native plants, shade trees, a weeping willow, walking stones and benches to accompany the monument.
According to Dell, Celebrate Westwood (celebratewestwood.org) plans to start raising funds in October, with planting following in the spring of 2022 and a dedicated ceremony in June 2022.
“I think it would be a really nice addition to the borough’s parks and a nice way to commemorate and recognize this horrible pandemic,” Dell said.
‘Welcome to Westwood’
During the meeting, Peter Grefrath — “councilmember emeritus” who manages the municipal sign program — said that an introductory sign was placed during the winter on Forest Avenue. Additional signs sponsored by the Becker Funeral Home are located on the triangle of Lafayette and Washington avenues; First Westwood Realty sponsors one at the bottom of Washington Avenue east; Hackensack Meridian Health Pascack Valley Medical Center sponsors signage at the intersection of Old Hook Road and Main Street.
Six other locations are available for supporters; an updated brochure will be available shortly, Grefath said.
Memorial bench program proves popular
Grefrath, who also manages the municipal bench program, said that seven additional benches were added throughout the borough, and six more benches on the way. Manufacturing costs increased the price of the benches $100 each, which the governing body unanimously approved to fund.
“That totals 52 benches in six parks and the community center, and a net savings of more than $80,000 for these conveniences,” Grefath said. “I initiated the bench program in 2011 because memorial trees were cut down and two memorial trees were damaged by storms. Since trees can be damaged, killed, diseased or other things, benches are for everybody and can last a long time, so we decided to go with benches as opposed to trees.”
First Annual Haydn Sterling Smith basketball tourney
Dell added that the first annual Haydn Sterling Smith Memorial Basketball Tournament will be held at Hegeman Park on Sand Road on Sept. 11 from noon to 6 p.m. and the event is in need of coaches.
She and Arroyo lauded Smith, a founding member of The Friends of Hegeman Park, who died on Dec. 1, 2020 at age 69 after a lifetime of service..
“Haydn’s contribution was invaluable. And his devotion to our Westwood community is memorialized in this event,” Arroyo said.
Want to play? There’s a maximum of eight players per team, ages 15 and up.
For more information write HSSmithmemorial@gmail.com or call Tina Jackson at (201) 485-9842 or Sheldon Jackson at (201) 485-9945. Registration deadline is Friday, Sept. 3.