STILLWATER TOWNSHIP
CERT
April 22, 2026
The meeting was called to order at 6:40 p.m. The flag was saluted and roll call was taken.
Present: Peggy Askew, Tristan Askew, Lisa Chammings, Neil Hubbard, Barbara Kimmich, Carol Kouba, Ken Lauffer, Doug McIntyre, Connie O’Grady, Ilene Schwartz, Vince Troiano, Maureen Tsadilas, and Michelle Vosper
Minutes: Approval of the March 25, 2026 meeting minutes. A motion was made by Ilene Schwartz, seconded by Doug McIntyre. Approved with all in favor.
Fire & EMS Report: As of April 18, 2026 there have been 144 EMS calls and 70 fire calls.
New Business:
The second CERT Community Safety Program was held on April 7th and presented by the Department of Health and Human Services. Rae Ann Gerow covered caregiver support and all the many Senior Support programs available.
On April 12th the Community Helmet Safety event took place. Over 80 helmets were distributed. A special thank you to Ken Lauffer who had a table representing Rider Education of New Jersey motorcycle safety. Appreciation to Neil and Linda for participating by having their beautiful motorcycles for all to see. We could not have had this event without all the CERT volunteers who helped with the event.
CERT volunteer background checks, as of April 16th, are almost fully up to date. There are still a few volunteers who still need to complete the process.
Maureen contacted Paul Hawkins about his suggestion of running a drill with our forestry department. Currently waiting to hear back.
Community CPR/First Aid Course was held on April 18th. Instructed by Alan Henderson from the American Heart Association and the County Commissioner. Attended by a small group, but was a very successful course! Alan wanted to send a special message to all of CERT, “I give you all a lot of credit volunteering for service for the community.”
Stillwater Clean Up Day is April 25th at 9am. If raining, Clean Up will be done on Sunday. CERT is assigned to Mt. Holly Road. Our CERT team will receive $300.00 for participating in this event.
There will be a Search & Rescue Exercise on May 3rd from 9am to 1pm at Veteran’s Memorial Park in Stillwater. CERT participants should download and set up the mapping application ‘CalTopo’ to their phones. Members should also familiarize themselves with the contents of the packets which were distributed at the meeting on April 22nd. Lunch will be provided.
The next CERT Community Safety Program will be on May 5th from 1pm to 2:30pm at the Stillwater Community Center about Tick & Sun Safety. It’ll be presented by Juliette Bannister, MRC Health Director at the Sussex County Division of Health.
Maureen introduced new CERT member application for Suzanne Garrera. All attendees voted in favor to accept her application.
Maureen introduced guest John Shank, visiting from Washington State. He’s a former reporter who lived in Africa for a number of years. While there he covered various conflicts and disasters. Now he an active CERT member in his community.
Maureen announced that Marcia Bradley’s husband, David, passed away on April 12th. Flowers were sent on behalf of CERT.
The Ramapo K-9 Team has split. One of the groups will continue to be headed by Patrick Crow; the other will now be under the auspices of Hopatcong CERT.
CERT received a request from the Historical Society to assist with pedestrian safety at an event to be held on October 4th at the Voss Homestead.
Maureen contacted Dawn Sullivan, who runs the AED program for local medical centers, regarding providing AEDs for our 3 athletic fields.
In September, NJ Search & Rescue will be running a training to receive NJ SAW B-Class Certification.
The next CERT meeting will be held on May 27th at 7pm at the Stillwater Community Center.
OEM Report:
Lisa Chammings reminded everyone that after the Search & Rescue exercise, participants should remove the CalTopo apps from their phone for non-tracking reasons.
On May 5th the Township’s budget will be finalized, after which CERT members may request reimbursements for their background check fee.
Regarding the dog dumping incident, Lisa provided further clarification that CERT could not be called out to assist because there was an active criminal investigation being conducted, therefore civilians were not allowed to participate in the search.
Lisa noted that Marcia Bradley was the one who started Stillwater’s CERT team and was the one who requested the initial charter from the Township Council.
Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 8:39 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Ilene Schwartz
