Kinnelon Council Congratulates New CERT Members

Kinnelon Mayor Robert Collins and Adam Barish, the head of the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), congratulated 13 new graduates of the CERT training program at the April 18 meeting.

"The CERT team was terrific for Sandy and we've been called out for a few other weather events," Barish said. The volunteers generally provide assistance to police and fire departments, and helped open shelters and provide food for those affected by the hurricane.

When Sandy hit, there were 10 people on the team, which Barish said left them spread a little thin. "We were kind of limited," Barish said. "We're about to graduate 13, which brings us up to 23, which takes a whole load off me."

With a larger team, Barish said, the team will be able to divide into subgroups and work independently to accomplish more in extreme situations.

"We can count on people now to set up task forces, so if we need to open a shelter, we can make one phone call and have a whole group of trained people to do that," Barish said.

Collins said the team "did an incredible job" during Hurricane Irene and Superstorm Sandy. "You never realize what an important resource they are to the borough until you have people that ultimately were there to assist our professionals and volunteer fire company in addressing the needs of the community," Collins said.

The CERT training graduates who attended the meeting are:

• William Clement
• Ian Clement
• Sean O’Neill
• Olga Gilhooley
• Ernest Barbaris
• Barbara Bott
• Robert Signora
• Toni DeContis
• Bridget Wasserman

Barish was recently named the Lakeland Hills YMCA Citizen of the Year, "in large part to his efforts during [Sandy]," Collins said.