March 25, 2026

STILLWATER TOWNSHIP
CERT
March 25, 2026

The meeting was called to order at ______ 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: The date of the First Aid & CPR class was corrected. It should have been 4/18. Ilene motioned to accept the minutes with the correction. All present agreed.

There were no Fire or EMS reports this month.

Old Business: 
March 10th: Lisa gave a presentation called ‘March Madness,’ where she presented various kinds of useful emergency supplies that can be beneficial for home emergencies. Although CERT member turnout was good, there were few people from the general public. We’re hoping to see a better turnout for the next community event, ‘Caring for Caregivers.’ Cert members had a few suggestions for future community events:
– Ilene suggested changing the time to early evening to allow those who work the chance to attend.
– Barbara proposed sending an email survey to those who have attended previous community events to see what topics people would like to see and what times work best.
– Peggy suggested advertising the community events in more places like at local churches, the Stillwater Recycle Center, and posting on NextDoor website.
– Shelly mentioned contacting Laurie Gordon at the Township Journal for advertising purposes.
– CERT already posts events on Stillwater website and on CERT Facebook page, but they could also put flyers in local libraries and the Sussex County Senior Times.

Neil and Doug will be in charge while Maureen is away. They can split contacting members if needed.

Recently Neil handed out information on how to make background check appointment. The Town will be able to reimburse Stillwater residents for the fee, but anyone who doesn’t live in Stillwater can be reimbursed through the funds that CERT raised. Regardless of whether you’d like to be reimbursed, Maureen needs all receipts from background checks. Neil stated that background checks are good for 6 months, after that they expire and are erased.

Neil asked if individuals who aren’t part of CERT but volunteer to assist with an event are covered by the Township’s insurance. Lisa stated they were.

April 12th: Helmet Safety Event presented by Avenues in Motion. They will be fitting people for bike helmets and giving helmets away. There will be a table for CERT and also a table for Ken’s local motorcycle club. Assistance will be needed to set up/clean up. This event was advertised on the Stillwater Page, on the bulletin board at Stillwater’s Town Hall, and at the Stillwater School.

CERT recently attended a Shelter Training in Ewing. Discussion was held after and the consensus was that if you’ve never had any shelter training before, it was good for basic information, but it lacked overall hands on training. Lisa noted that all shelters must be Red Cross certified and that the Sussex County VoTech is a designated county shelter.

April 18th: The First Aid & CPR course is limited to 20 participants and will run from 8:30a-2p. Registration will open up on March 16th and run until all spots have been filled.

April 25th: For anyone participating in Stillwater’s Clean Up Day, please arrive at 9a.

May 3rd: There will be a Search & Rescue Training at Veterans Park from 9a-12p. We will do this alongside Hopatcong CERT.

New Business:
There will be an expo for the disabled from 5/1-5/3 in Edison.

The next CERT meeting on April 22nd will begin at 6:30p. The Stop the Bleed training from 7p-8p.

Doug gave basic compass reading information to those present.

Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 8:39 pm.

Respectfully submitted,
Carol Kouba