Category: Health

UPDATE #2: Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-2019) with Audio of Conference Call

Keith Kaplan / / Health, Safety, Teaneck

Community Update on Coronavirus

This evening, (March 5, 2020) the Township of Teaneck will be hosting a Community Update conference call on the Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19. Please join Township Manager Dean Kazinci, members of Council, Health Officer Ken Katter, School Superintendent Dr. Christopher Irving, and representatives from Holy Name Hospital to discuss the latest status of the virus, preventative measures, and important contact information that will help to answer all of your questions and concerns.

To participate by telephone, please call 563-999-1684 at 8:00 PM.

You will automatically be connected to the conference call. A recording of the conference call will be made available on the Township’s website Friday morning. Thank you.

The audio of the conference call is now available here:

Update #2

There are currently zero confirmed cases of the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-2019) in Teaneck. As per NJ Department of Health (NJDOH), societal risk is low at this time. There is no need to cancel school events, activities, etc. and there are no restrictions on public gatherings. Please be advised that schools, places of worship, sports leagues, etc. may exclude individuals who have recently returned from level 3 countries or had direct/close contact with an infected person.

As the COVID-2019 situation develops, the Teaneck Health Department is proactively handling the matter by conducting risk assessments, monitoring those under self-quarantine, checking the disease surveillance database, etc. The Teaneck Health Department follows directives in accordance with the CDC and NJDOH. Any new information/updates will be posted on the Teaneck website (under home news/health news). We urge our residents to remain calm, and not spread fear/panic. In light of factors such as commuter population, proximity to NY, and more recently the situation in Fort Lee, we are continuing to work closely with local and State officials as this matter evolves.

Teaneck Health Department would like to remind residents to take necessary precautions to protect themselves from the flu, common cold, and all respiratory viruses.  Our priority is to reduce the spread of infection by protecting the health of children, adolescents, and adults. Therefore, the Teaneck Health Department continues to stress basic infection prevention activities such as:

  • Thoroughly wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds (especially after coughing or sneezing)
  • Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth
  • Cough or sneeze into your sleeve, and not into the hands or into the air (also cover your coughs and sneezes with tissues and dispose of them properly)
  • Avoid contact with ill people and if you are ill, stay home from work or school; limit contact with others to keep from infecting them
  • Clean surfaces that are frequently touched (such as toys, doorknobs, tables, counters, etc.) regularly with a disinfectant solution

Anyone who suspects an exposure is urged to call a health care provider before going to a medical office and/or emergency room. Special arrangements can be made for you to be evaluated while also protecting other patients and medical staff from possible infection. Medical staff will evaluate you to see if you are eligible for testing (based on CDC clinical criteria for COVID-2019 PUIs) and NJDOH will review/approve such request.

**For those who attended events at the Temple Young Israel in New Rochelle, NY on February 22 and 23: if you have received notification from the Westchester County Health Department (WCHD) to be placed under self-quarantine, please heed the WCHD instructions on that recommendation. Or if you/your family had direct/close contact with the confirmed infected person and did not receive notification, please reach out to WCHD at: 866-588-0195 (WCHD hotline for people under self-quarantine or exposure to known case).**

For more information about Coronavirus, contact your health care provider or visit the following websites:
NJDOH – General Information Page – https://www.nj.gov/health/cd/topics/ncov.shtml
FAQs – Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-2019) FAQs.pdf
CDC – General Information Page – https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

CDC – COVID-2019 Fact Sheets: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/communication/factsheets.html

Travel (due to the rapidly changing situation, see travel recommendations which are subject to frequent updates): https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/index.html
For general questions, residents are encouraged to call the COVID-2019 hotline: 1-800-222-1222

To contact the Teaneck Health Department: 201-837-1600 ext. 1500 or health@teanecknj.gov

 

Community Safety Call Regarding Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Keith Kaplan / / Health, Teaneck

Teaneck Councilmembers Elie Y. Katz, Henry Pruitt, Mark J Schwartz, Gervonn Romney Rice, Keith Kaplan, Jim Dunleavy, Mohammed Hameeduddin participated in a call tonight to get a an update on the Coronavirus (COVID-19) to address the concerns of Teaneck residents. On the call were Teaneck Township Manager Dean Kazinci, Teaneck Health Officer Ken Katter & Teaneck Board of Education Superintendent Dr. Chris Irving.
Over 375 residents participated in this proactive call to address residents concerns. Teaneck’s Health Officer reassured the residents that NJ has “0” confirmed cases at this time. Teaneck will continue to monitor and inform their residents.
Call recording below–please share

Trash Talking in Teaneck [Part 1: incorporation to 1960’s]

Keith Kaplan / / Development, Health, Parks, Teaneck

Private vs Municipal Collection of Garbage

It’s a perennial topic of conversation.  There are those that can’t stand the noise.  More that can’t stand the environmental impact.  And yet even more that can’t stand the prices.

So, what should be done about garbage in town?  I decided to see what we’ve done in the past.

Here’s a deep dive into garbage:

People were always unhappy with garbage collection efforts

Teaneck had very few people when we moved to our council form of Government (~16,000), and even as late as the 40’s, it was only about 25,000.

Yet, as early as March, 1948, records indicate that residents complained about the unsightly nature of municipal garbage pickups. Continue reading “Trash Talking in Teaneck [Part 1: incorporation to 1960’s]”

Proposed Changes To Garbage Hauling Hours (with list as currently permitted in 2019/04)

Keith Kaplan / / Health, Ordinances, Teaneck

In NJ, garbage haulers can operate during specific hours.  What those hours are depends on two things:

1) The tariffs issued by the State and County
2) Requirements of municipal ordinance

The Teaneck Municipal Code does not currently contain any restrictions on when haulers may operate, so the times default to tariff schedules.  Those times are listed below for the various haulers in Teaneck.

As you will see, some haulers (Armaniaco & Son, LLC, Generation Waste Services, Inc., Ippolito Industries, Inc., Interstate Waste Services of NJ, and Waste Management of NJ) can operate around the clock, 24/7.  For many, that means loud disruptions at 4am or sometimes even earlier.

The council will be taking up garbage collection hours in our May meeting.  The proposal will limit hauling hours to a minimum of 5am.  Several weeks ago, we also reached out to all sanitation companies requesting comment as to whether the proposed change will affect their ability to operate and / or cause an increase in prices.

As of today, we have not received a response.

The current version of Ordinance 11-2019 can be found here: AN ORDINANCE AMENDING AND SUPPLEMENTING CHAPTER 19 OF THE TOWNSHIP CODE ENTITLED “GARBAGE AND REFUSE” RESPECTING HOURS OF COLLECTION

TL;DR  I’ve requested the current times of operation of various haulers in town ad we plan to curtail excessively early runs.  The information is now available below: Continue reading “Proposed Changes To Garbage Hauling Hours (with list as currently permitted in 2019/04)”

Mosquito Control Event – Street Treatment [Update]

Danny Beer / / Health

The Bergen County Mosquito Control Division will be conducting an area treatment in the area shown below. Such treatment will be applied this Friday, September 21, 2018, weather permitting. In the event of rain, the treatment will be rescheduled for Sunday, September 23, 2018.

Bergen County Mosquito Control informed us that they have received almost 700 calls from residents in Teaneck requesting treatment in their area. The County regularly tests areas and when Bergen County Mosquito Control tested several areas in the treatment area, all of them indicated positive for the West Nile Virus. Spraying in the treatment area will effectively reduce the exposure of the West Nile Virus to residents.

The message is being disseminated in various methods, including a reverse-911 that will go out shortly to those in the affected area. Continue reading “Mosquito Control Event – Street Treatment [Update]”

Let’s Grow, Teaneck!

Keith Kaplan / / Board of Education, Health, Ordinances, Safety, Teaneck

Having three kids, the parks and recreation facilities in Town are a large part of our family’s life. We moved to Teaneck for the programs and the commitment to the open space it provided.  But as we grow, our kids, our parks, and our greater community should be permitted to adapt and grow as well.

A mini-library sits on Warwick Avenue in Teaneck
Signs for parks inform parents in shopping districts in MA
A mini-library available outside municipal parks in MA

One very simple proposal I brought up as a member of the Parks, Playgrounds, and Recreation Advisory Board (PPRAB) was to add signage to our residential areas indicating locations of parks as well as mini-libraries for residents to share books.

Some residents have already taken this up themselves.  On the right, you can see a mini-library set up with a bench on Warwick Ave. here in Teaneck.

We have wonderful facilities and many of them are underutilized throughout the Township.  Let’s harness available technology to let people know is available and what the Township has to offer.

 

Another proposal is to adopt an online sign-up system for programs in the Rodda Center and for parks around the Township.  As demand for use of our Votee Parks sportsplex and other areas increase, it becomes increasingly complicated to know what is available, when, and how to request use of facilities.

Let Children Play

As my children start to grow into their own independence, they have started to ask to walk to the park alone.

When is the right time to start allowing our kids to have that independence and who should be in charge of making those decisions?

Teaneck is hardly unique when it comes to this question and in some towns, merely allowing your children to walk to the park has led to arrests, the involvement of children’s services and worse.

I reached out to the Township Manager, the Chief of Police and the School Superintendent to determine how Teaneck deals with the age of kids and the parents’ ability to decide if they are old enough to venture out on their own.  The responses can be found here:
School Superindent Response
Police Chief Response

As a member of the PPRAB, we have heard about issues that have surfaced over the years when students and children were accosted in parks and questions were raised as to whether they were permitted to be in the parks alone.  I made a motion, which was unanimously put forward to council to consider a change to the code which would enable parents, to be the ones that get to determine the age in which their children were mature enough to play unsupervised.

The proper role of government here is to defer to parents.

If parents, in their role as custodians of their children, feel that their child is old enough to earn a degree of independence, we must defer to their decision.  This doesn’t mean that police and other services cannot deal with legitimate and well-founded cases where danger or neglect exists.  But it does mean that we should let borderline cases, in which judgment calls could be made, default to the will of parents.

Since the decision by the PPRAB to advise Council to create such an ordinance, Utah has created the first legislative code to enable this on a Statewide basis.  You can read about the efforts on the LetGrow website.

We should foster our kids’ independence and the parents’ role in crafting it.  Children live in our world and it’s a very safe one (statistically, every crime metric is down from when we were kids).

Let’s give our kids the same opportunity to play that we had growing up.  We all deserve that.