MORRIS COUNTY — The end of summer is bearing down on us, with its dog days of autumn heat that is driving many Morris County residents to the Shore and mountains, and local and county lakes and beaches and pools – all in search of some fun and cooling water.

Which is why the Morris County Office of Health Management is joining the state Department of Children and Families (DCF) in offering one last summer of 2015 warning to be especially watchful of children – especially very young children — near water during this time of the year.

“It only takes a few inches of water for a child to drown,” said Carlos Perez, Health Officer for the Morris County Office of Health Management. “So please make sure the kids have constant supervision when they are in or near the water, so we can avoid any tragedies.’’

“Adults must be vigilant when small children are near water, and under no circumstances, should a child ever be left unsupervised near water,” said DCF Commissioner Allison Blake.  “It just takes a moment’s distraction and very shallow water for a child to drown.  This water safety video will help parents and guardians keep children safe and make sure this summer is fun for everyone.”

A video from New Jersey DCF offers important water safety information at https://youtu.be/1BoMrq4y_CA

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), drowning causes more deaths among children 1 to 4 years of age than any other cause except birth defects.  Drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury-related deaths among children ages 1 to 14, trailing only motor vehicle crashes.

The CDC notes the primary factors affecting drowning risks are: lack of swimming ability, lack of barriers to prevent unsupervised water access, lack of close supervision while swimming, location of the body of water, failure to wear life jackets, alcohol use, and seizure disorders.

The Morris County Office of Health Management joins DCF and the New Jersey Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics in recommending that parents and caregivers follow several tips to help keep young people safe in and around water.

Never leave children swimming unattended. Drowning can occur in an inch or two of water. Stay within an arm’s length of small children in water to protect against rapid drowning.

• Warn children to never swim at a pool or beach alone or without a lifeguard.
• Train children to swim at an early age.
• Teach children swimming in a pool is far different than swimming in open water.
• Be certain only qualified and undistracted adults are entrusted with supervising children in water.
• Always empty inflatable pools, buckets, pails, and bathtubs after each use.
• Personal floatation devices do not guarantee water safety.

PARSIPPANY — In June 2013, a sewer pump station located in the Skyview section of the township failed.  Constructed in 1988, the pump station was designed to pump sewage through a force main which traveled up Meadow Bluff Road and over the western slope of Watnong Mountain to a gravity main on the other side of the mountain near Route 10.  The pump station handled an average of 50,000 gallons of wastewater each day by servicing 194 townhomes, 66 single family homes, and a bath house located in Skyview Heights.

According to Township officials, the failure was the result of a collapsed force main which was over one mile in length. The collapse caused severe pressure which resulted in multiple failure modes for pump station operations.

As a result of the failure, emergency operations were forced to install a submersible pump and via a temporary bypass line, the township pumped the waste down the street and into neighboring Morris Plains’ sewer system.  (Morris Plains officials claim that they were never notified that Parsippany was diverting sludge to its borough and state that it wasn’t until months later that they became aware of the situation).

With three options available to the township, only two were viable; repair the pump station and force main and continue to treat the wastewater in Parsippany, or build a new, half-mile gravity line to a small wastewater plant owned by the State of New Jersey  and located on the grounds of the former Greystone Hospital.

The projected 10 year cost of repairing the pump station and force main line was anticipated to be $2,179,695 whereas by creating a new line to Greystone, the price tag over 10 years would be around $1,187,913. Even though the price tag for sending the wastewater to Greystone was nearly half the cost of repairing the existing line, after 10 years the cost would significantly drop if the township continued treating the wastewater as opposed to continuing to pay the State for accepting the waste indefinitely.

On June 17, 2014, one year after the pump failure, Parsippany’s Director of Utilities, Paula Cozzarelli presented the Township Council with her findings, and along with Business Administrator Ellen Sandman and Mayor James Barberio, recommended that the best option for addressing the Skyview Pump Station failure would be to contract with the State of New Jersey by building a new line to Greystone.   The Council agreed, and voted unanimously to send the wastewater to the State owned facility.

During that same Council meeting, two other issues were passed. Resolution R2014-102 authorized the Township to rescind its intention to revise Parsippany’s master plan and development regulations for plan conformance for land in the Highlands Planning Area.  In plain language, the Council was required to vote out of Highlands conformity in order to move forward with building a new sewer line to Greystone.

Also voted on and approved by the Council that same evening was resolution R2014-089, which awarded a professional service contract to the engineering firm Adams, Rehmann & Heggan, Inc. (ARH). Although no specific engineering work was spelled out in the resolution, Parsippany Focus has since learned that ARH was the firm which received the lucrative no-bid contract to provide engineering work for the creation of the new sewer line to the Greystone wastewater plant. The contract was also backdated and retroactive to January 1.

Much has already been written about the influence of Super PAC’s.  When the Super PAC, America’s Future First was created in the summer of 2014 for the purpose of influencing Parsippany elections, the engineering firm Adam, Rehmann & Heggan, Inc. was listed as it’s very first donor.  In fact, ARH donated $21,000 to the Super PAC, just weeks after winning the lucrative no-bid sewer contract.  In 2014 ARH donated $33,950 to the Super PAC. Parsippany Focus reached out to ARH for comment several times but has yet to receive any response.

At the most recent Township Council meeting on August 11, 2015, Parsippany resident and environmentalist Nick Homyak asked Township Attorney John Inglesino whether opting out of Highlands Conformance would expose Parsippany to a greater number of affordable housing obligations.  Mr. Inglesino replied, “…Highlands conformance may present an opportunity to enact an ordinance that may help the town with regards to this issue [housing obligation]. We opted out of the Highlands in order to get that [Greystone] done.   Once that’s done there may be a legitimate policy decision for opting back in.”

This is a developing story.

PARSIPPANY — In 1989, when Frank Priore learned that his drivers license had long since expired, he not only renewed his license immediately, but he suspended himself as Mayor of Parsippany for one day.

“I think that is the fairest thing I could do with myself,” Priore said at the time.

After a reporter had informed the former mayor that his license had lapsed, Priore leaped into action and demanded that the Chief of Police issue him a summons to ‘set an example.’

“He was kind of shocked,” Priore said at the time. “He said ‘I can’t give you a ticket,’ and I said, ‘You’re being ordered to give me a ticket.'”  Priore paid the fine and docked himself a day’s pay.

Last week Parsippany Focus received text messages along with several photos attached from two Lake Hiawatha residents. Both residents, neighbors of Mayor Barberio, complained that a large pickup truck remained parked smack on the middle of Hizzoner’s front lawn.

“I don’t know who to complain to,” one resident lamented, “how do I ask housing [officer] or the police to knock on their boss’ door and say ‘hey move that truck off your [expletive] lawn.'”

Parsippany Code 213-19 (7) states:
The parking of any motor vehicle by an owner, occupant or operator on the lawn of any residential property is strictly prohibited.
All vehicles must park on an improved surface, either paved by asphalt or similar-type material or stoned as a parking area in accordance with the requirements of Chapter 225, Land Use, Subdivisions and Site Plans.

The pickup truck in question according to the mayor’s neighbors has been parked on his lawn since at least last Wednesday and as of early Monday evening, continues to remain on his front lawn.

Parsippany Focus emailed both Police Chief Paul Philipps and Mayor Barberio what they feel should be the appropriate action taken.  We will update when either the mayor or chief respond.

What do you think?

UPDATE: Parsippany Focus received a message that as of 9pm Monday, the truck was removed from the lawn and is now parked on the street.

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