Residents press council over snow removal, tree removals and recurring sewer backups
March 07, 2026 | Kenilworth, Union County, New Jersey
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Public comment at the Kenilworth council meeting focused on ongoing service issues and property impacts after recent storms. Joey Grimaldi (34 North 14th Street) asked the council to consider different snowblowing patterns around the school to ease parent drop-off and pedestrian access and noted a donation of a Kenilworth 250th-anniversary challenge coin to a museum. "I have 2 things I wanna bring to the attention of the council and everyone," Grimaldi said, describing both the snow-clearing issue and the donation.
A later speaker who identified herself as Nikki (Lindsey) Roman delivered an extended statement alleging problems with DPW performance and municipal responses after storms. She asked, "I want to know where all the money is," and listed multiple concerns including sewer backups at her house, denied tree-cutting requests, and the pace and thoroughness of plowing operations. She said she had been in her home for 67 years and was frustrated by recurring problems.
Council members and staff responded repeatedly during the exchange. One official suggested meeting the resident with the superintendent to go through specific concerns. A council member and DPW staff described staffing changes following a merger and said recent funds were used to hire additional employees. One official said, "We hired 9 individuals... that's where the money goes," and stated the borough had allocated about $100,000 last year to address the backlog of tree-removal requests. The resident requested a letter or report from the water company documenting whether the utility would replace a pipe without a tree being removed; council members asked the resident to provide that documentation so staff could follow up.
The council did not take formal action on the complaints during the meeting but offered follow-up: staff said they would contact the water company, meet with the resident and the superintendent, and review records on tree requests and budget allocations.
Next steps: residents were asked to deliver any water-company letters or reports to staff; DPW and administration offered to follow up directly with affected homeowners and to note the concerns for the finance and public works committees.
A later speaker who identified herself as Nikki (Lindsey) Roman delivered an extended statement alleging problems with DPW performance and municipal responses after storms. She asked, "I want to know where all the money is," and listed multiple concerns including sewer backups at her house, denied tree-cutting requests, and the pace and thoroughness of plowing operations. She said she had been in her home for 67 years and was frustrated by recurring problems.
Council members and staff responded repeatedly during the exchange. One official suggested meeting the resident with the superintendent to go through specific concerns. A council member and DPW staff described staffing changes following a merger and said recent funds were used to hire additional employees. One official said, "We hired 9 individuals... that's where the money goes," and stated the borough had allocated about $100,000 last year to address the backlog of tree-removal requests. The resident requested a letter or report from the water company documenting whether the utility would replace a pipe without a tree being removed; council members asked the resident to provide that documentation so staff could follow up.
The council did not take formal action on the complaints during the meeting but offered follow-up: staff said they would contact the water company, meet with the resident and the superintendent, and review records on tree requests and budget allocations.
Next steps: residents were asked to deliver any water-company letters or reports to staff; DPW and administration offered to follow up directly with affected homeowners and to note the concerns for the finance and public works committees.
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