MAYOR'S UPDATE:
DECEMBER 22

Thanks to everyone who joined us last weekend for the amazing holiday festivities around Town! From the beautiful menorah lighting to kick off Hanukkah, to the excitement of the Santa Convoy driving down our streets, the new Winter Wonderland activities in Foundation Park, and the Hanukkah Hoopla activities downtown, the mood was festive and bright. 

Don’t miss the 23 incredible entries in the Westfield Wonderland Holiday Lights Contest! You have until the end of the day on December 26 to cast your vote at westfieldnj.gov/holidaylights. Be sure to join us on December 24 at 1:00 for Hanukkah Chalk the Walk (rescheduled from December 23 due to weather) and December 26 for Kwanzaa Chalk the Walk from 1:00 - 3:00, both on the Central Avenue sidewalk near Banana Republic. There will also be a Kwanzaa Book Reading at the library on December 28 at 6:30. I’m grateful to the DWC, Recreation, Police, Fire, and EMS for putting together so many holiday experiences this month for the community to enjoy!

Please use caution with the incoming weather system that is expected to produce heavy rain and strong winds today and tomorrow, followed by extremely cold temperatures that will last through the weekend. Public Works has been clearing storm drains in known problem areas, and we will send a Nixle notification if conditions warrant road salting. PSE&G has advised that power outages are possible. You can report an outage and receive status updates by texting OUT to 4PSEG (47734). 

As a reminder, all Town offices will be closed on Monday, December 26, as well as Monday, January 2. We will hold our Annual Organization Meeting of the Town Council on Tuesday, January 3, at 6:00. I look forward to recapping a successful 2022 and discussing our goals as we look ahead to an exciting 2023 for Westfield.

As Hanukkah continues, and both Christmas and Kwanzaa approach in the coming days, I wish you all a joyous holiday season filled with peace, health and happiness.

ONE WESTFIELD PLACE INFORMATION

Thanks to everyone who attended Monday night’s Facebook Live session on the proposed finances for One Westfield Place. It was a lengthy discussion on complex issues – including the case for a PILOT, funding the $54M in public improvements, and the multi-layered risk mitigation measures we are requiring – and I encourage you to watch the replay if you missed the initial presentation. We have a top-tier team of finance professionals working tirelessly on the Town’s behalf to negotiate an outcome that is in the best interest of Westfield. We will be hosting a second Facebook Live on this topic on January 11 at 6:30 to address follow up questions – please be sure to join us, and submit your questions to westfieldnj.gov/FBlive.

Also on our website, you’ll find links to the following resources:

• Slides from the finance presentation
• Replays of the Preview Center information sessions on Planning & Design and The Future of Offices 
• Replay of the Traffic Mitigation discussion on Facebook Live
• The Public Parking/Technology Enhancements Budget Report
• The Traffic Impact Study and Appendices
• Frequently Asked Questions, which were recently updated to include information on traffic, parking, and school impact. Additional details about finances will be added shortly as well. 

In addition Streetworks has launched an Instagram page for One Westfield Place – please follow them on social media to learn more about details of the proposed project.

Once again, I want to truly thank everyone who is taking the time to educate themselves about the details of this proposed development. The most important thing you can do before providing your input is to ensure you hear the facts directly from the experts. Ensuring these facts are available to the public is a shared top priority between this administration and Streetworks, and additional opportunities to obtain information and provide feedback will be plentiful after the holidays. 

RUMBLE BOXING

LEAF COLLECTION AND CONSERVATION CENTER

A huge thanks to our Department of Public Works for an outstanding job with leaf collection this year! In response to residents’ feedback, the program was modified this year to eliminate the specific collection weeks by zone so that the crews could move more efficiently. In addition, seven Saturdays of collection were implemented to address areas surrounding the schools and expedite the overall timeline, and nightly Nixle alerts were sent to alert residents to the daily areas of collection. 

With collection complete in all zones, the DPW will now move on to leaf collection in the municipal parking lots, park/field parking lots, and all parks. Street sweeping will follow, weather permitting.

The Conservation Center is closed until Saturday, January 7, and will then re-open every Saturday in January from 9:00 - 3:00. For a list of items you can drop off without a permit and free of charge (including seasonal items like Christmas trees and string lights), visit westfieldnj.gov/conservation.