West Orange Public Information Officer Provides Updates

WEST ORANGE, NJ — During the recent town council meeting, Joseph Fagan, West Orange’s Public Information Officer, provided some updates from the fire department, the police department, road safety grants, street paving, Brendan Byrne's 100th birthday and more.

He began, “West Orange has received a grant for almost $1,000,000, $966,000, and that was announced on July 10 by the Murphy administration. Over $21 million was awarded for 23 grants, and in West Orange, this will mean that sidewalks, high visibility, crosswalks, ADA curb ramps, LED stop signs and flashing beacons will be installed along Gregory Avenue and Lowell Avenue, right here in West Orange.”

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE FREE TAPINTO.NET NEWSLETTER

Fagan continued to say that West Orange will also receive almost another million dollar allotment from a local transportation projects fund, and this will make improvements along South Valley Road, Union Street, Nassau Street and Wheatland Avenue.

He also spoke of a Police Executive Research Forum report which determined that 51% of people say they have either a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in the police, and he attributed that statistic to retraining of police departments across the country since the George Floyd homicide.

Fagan also presented the month of June fire department call report. “There were 657 calls across all 187 categories and EMS calls, which topped out at 409 — probably the most calls.

Fagan also posted a list of streets closing for paving that will be going on from the beginning of August.

DOWNLOAD THE FREE TAPINTO APP FOR MORE LOCAL NEWS. AVAILABLE IN THE APPLE STORE AND THE GOOGLE PLAY STORE .

He noted that residents can go online to check with the state, using their street and see what the tentative date is. “We also have ongoing work with PSE&G doing tree trimming. There are ongoing operations in West Orange," he stated.

He also spoke about Brendan Byrne, New Jersey’s 47th governor. “He was born in 1924, so this is the 100th anniversary of his birth. He grew up on Prospect Place. He went to Washington Street School. He went to St John's School. He also went to Gaston Street School.”

Fagan spoke of interviewing Byrne in 2013 and Byrne talking about how dangerous trolley traffic was on Main Street. Fagan continued to recap Byrnes’s life, graduating from West Orange High School in 1942, joining the army and serving aboard a B17 Flying Fortress. He flew 32 missions over Germany from bases in Italy as a navigator, and he also doubled as a waste gunner set to calibrate machine guns. To hear the stories that Byrne told Fagan, go to 33 minutes in the meeting .

On August 15, a marker dedication will be part of Downtown Thursdays at the Thomas Edison National Historical Park, 211 Main Street, West Orange. Attendees need to RSVP to the mayor's office at mayor@westorange.org .

Fagan shared statistics from the police and fire departments and tentative road milling dates.

For more local news, visit TAPinto.net