Councilman Sean Fitzgerald convened a meeting for those involved with the Merchantville Office of Emergency Management and coordinating entities via video conference on Thursday evening to share information and synchronize efforts moving forward. JP Beauchamp from OEM spoke about working with the County and emergency preparations to obtain PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) for our first responders and equipping an EOC (Emergency Operations Center) which will open as a Level 3 center from 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. in the basement of the Community Center if required. He has reviewed the school lunch distribution program developed by Scott Strong and requested that a pdf on basic hand washing/covid-19 symptoms be attached to each brown bag.

Department of Health member, Joan Brennan, is monitoring several sites for information and statistics including the CDC, NJDOH Dashboard, PA DOH Alerts, County Department of Health & Human Services and Kinsa Health/Weather Mapping. She noted that Merchantville has several websites and social media outlets where we can push out information from national/state/county/municipal outlets and virtual meetings/town halls/messages and asked asked about identifying potential cluster housing hotspots like Chestnut Station, Greenleigh Court and Wellwood Manor to determine who is coordinating their preparation efforts. Mayor Brennan stated that Denise Brouse, borough clerk, has been in touch with Chestnut Station an a plan is in place and handouts have been provided. He also mentioned that the Camden County Mayors Association is promoting the importance of the senior food program and community volunteers are welcome.

Police Chief Rich Grassia spoke on changes to central dispatch communications including screening incoming calls with inquiries about recent out of country travel and flu like symptoms. He noted that police are not entering buildings unless necessary when answering calls. The Police Chief Association keeps them current on the number of positive cases in Camden County and is working on ways to better inform police about pockets of contagion. Their info share system will red flag call situations with a Covid-19 tag (cautionary flag). Chief Grassia reported that town residents appear to be heeding warnings because there have been no walk-ups at the Boro Hall police station and no large gatherings noted.The chief and detective are at the police department every day and night shift rotate through to cover the buildings.

Fire Chief Kevin Patti discussed the status of fire, code and public works. The Merchantville Fire Department is restricted to members only, temperature screening is done upon arrival and response modifications with EMS have been made. Merchantville and Pennsauken have established a joint 14 day quarantine space if needed and right now all members healthy. All fire/housing inspections have been canceled but, they continue to complete resale CO inspections and handle minor complaints. Public Works still active and are ready to maintain trash removal in case something happens with our municipal provider, Gold Medal. They have been sanitizing doorknobs twice a day and the phone pad outside the police station can be added.

Mayor Brennan reported that the Mayors Association had decided that individual municipal emergency declarations provided no additional value or power beyond the County declaration so, 37 municipalities agreed to piggy back on the county. Mayor Brennan doesn’t anticipate he will have to put a municipal declaration in place but, we have it if needed. Mayor Brennan was very appreciative of the level of coordination and communication among municipal OEM stakeholder groups and feels we are as prepared as we can be. We hope to avoid a major situation so, the more days we go without cases the better off we will be in 14-16 days. Unless an earlier meeting is necessary the next meeting will take place on Wednesday, 3/26/20 @ 8:00 p.m.

RN's are needed immediately for a Coronavirus Drive-Thru test site and Pop-Up Tent/Makeshift Hospital at the PNC Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ, right off the Garden State Parkway in Monmouth County, NJ. RN's are needed starting this coming Monday, March 23, for the next 6-8 weeks, everyday from 6:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. for as many days as you are available to work. One day a week, 3 days a week, 7 days a week however you can help out. Pay: $42/hour. If interested, please call Molly at All American Healthcare Services at (862) 279-7111 or email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

As we all take precautions to "flatten the curve" by social distancing during the coronavirus health crisis, the Merchantville community is stepping up to share local, county and state news and information on Borough websites and social media pages. Our municipality provides official government information to residents through their website, Facebook page and Twitter feeds @mayortedbrennan and @merchantville. Merchantville Online shares community, organization and business news, information and events on their website, Facebook page and Twitter feed. Additional community stories can be found on these Facebook pages: Shop Merchantville, Merchantville Neighbors, Merchantville Matters and Merchantville Living. Updates can be found for Merchantville School on their website and Facebook page and St. Peter School on their website and Facebook page. Several churches are also using Facebook LIVE to provide services and information to parishioners. Visit Grace Church, St. Peter Church, First Presbyterian Church, Trinity United Methodist Church and High Place Church.

Governor Murphy just signed legislation authorizing @NewJerseyEDA to provide grants during a state of emergency and to extend business documentation submission deadlines. The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA), the Business.NJ.gov and NJ Business Action Center web pages provide information to NJ businesses on the COVID-19/Novel Coronavirus Outbreak including who at the State they should reach out to; existing programs that small or medium-sized business could utilize during coronavirus-related impacts; how Executive Order 104 on closures and social distancing will affect their business; programs the State is developing to support businesses that are financially or operationally impacted; what financial assistance is available from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA); and, the status of current business loan or a tax credit agreements. 

NJ DOH is halting Adult Day Health Services in all counties. As of 2:00 p.m. on March 20th they reported 155 new cases, 890 total and 2 additional deaths, 11 total. The Monmouth County testing site is set to open on Monday, March 23. New Jersey residents should be prepared for the possibility of a COVID-19 outbreak in their community. You can take measures to reduce the spread of COVID- 19. The NJ Poison Control Center and 211 have partnered with the State to provide information to the Public on COVID-19: Call: 2-1-1; Call (24/7): 1-800-962-1253; Text: NJCOVID to 898-211 or Text: your zip code to 898-211 for live text assistance. Learn more here.

From March 18th - 19th Governor Murphy signed the following bills to support residents and businesses and curb the spread of coronavirus during the Covid-19 pandemic. Bills A3680 and A3682 to expand access to tele-health services and to allow professional and occupational licensing board to expedite licensure of out-of-state professionals. Executive Order 106 places a moratorium on removing people from their homes due to evictions or foreclosures. No renter or homeowner can be evicted until further notice. Executive Order 105 implemented changes to upcoming elections to further mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and ensure that voters can exercise their right to vote without risking their health and safety. Bill A-3852/S-2296 allowing conduct of State business and legislative sessions at locations other than Trenton during periods of emergency or other exigence and allows conduct of legislative business using electronic means. Additionally, new amendments were added to the Child Care Subsidy Program to help provide access to critical child care subsidies while eligible parents attend jobs.