WESTFIELD, NJ - Long-time Westfield resident and physician, Dr. Virginia Apgar, was noted for developing the Apgar Score in 1949 to evaluate a baby’s condition immediately after birth. This development, according to former Westfield Councilman Kenneth MacRitchie of Trinity Place, led Dr. Apgar to be regarded as the founder of the medical specialty of neonatology.

The former councilman appeared at Tuesday’s meeting of the Westfield Town Council to reiterate his request, first made on June 7, 2009, that the park at the end of Windsor place, near the Carleton Road home where the physician spent many of her early years, be named in honor of Dr. Apgar.

Councilman MacRitchie originally made his request last year on the 100th anniversary of the birth of Dr. Apgar. He reiterated that request in an April 2, 2010 letter to Mayor Andrew Skibitsky, noting that there was some concern at that time that the park may already have been named for the Girl Scouts.

He said, however, that a sign at the park indicates it has been adopted by the Girl Scouts and not named for them.

MacRitchie was told at Tuesday’s meeting that the matter is still being researched and action on his request should happen shortly.

The former councilman also reiterated his request that the town land use ordinance be modified to require that fences which surround mechanical or electrical apparatus be as high as the apparatus they surround.

He is particularly concerned about the seven-foot wooden fence surrounding the electrical transformer at Trinity Gardens. The purpose of the fence, he said, is to prevent children from being injured by the transformer.

About five years ago, according to the former official, Trinity Gardens wanted to replace the fence with a new fence of the same height but was prohibited from doing so because the new fence would violate town land use ordinance height restrictions. As a result the fence was repaired instead of being replaced.

MacRitchie noted the eight-foot fence around the air conditioning apparatus at the Westfield Memorial Library has apparently been exempted from the land use ordinance by the town.

Because pieces of electrical and mechanical apparatus are an "attractive nuisance" that may pose a safety hazard to children, he asked that the land use ordinance be modified to allow fences around the devices to be as high as the devices.

On another matter, resident Greg Kasko asked that a Public Employee Relations Commission (PERC) hearing for a Westfield police officer be made public.

According to Mr. Kasko, the officer’s claims involve the credibility of ranking officers and their ability to bypass union rules and regulations and the abuse of the rules surrounding appointments and promotions, promotional testing and "secret pay raises to those favored by management."

He added the town’s legal representative followed the police department’s wish to close the hearing and keep it secret. He said making the hearing public would be in keeping with Mayor Skibitsky’s October 2009 published statement that he believed "we opened the doors to communication, accountability, and transparency to Westfield’s governing body."

In official action at Tuesday’s special meeting, the council introduced a salary ordinance for all staff members of the Public Works Department which would formalized the salaries agreed to in recent town contract settlements with the Teamsters Union, according to Council Finance Chairman Mark Ciarrocca.

At a conference session following the special meeting, Councilmembers gave their support to a proposal by Eagle Scout candidate Luke Gibbons to construct a "downsized" version of the granite Washington, DC Vietnam Veterans Memorial adjacent to the town’s other veterans’ memorials on the Westfield Traffic Circle.

Luke’s father said he also hopes to make a video and possibly a documentary film which would be released in conjunction with his son’s Eagle project in order to honor those from Westfield who served in Vietnam.

At that meeting, Councilwoman Jo Ann Neylan, who heads the governing body’s Public Safety, Transportation and Parking Committee, said the committee is close to determining the number of crossing guard positions that will be eliminated due to budget restrictions and that number probably will be less than the amount originally projected.

After discussions with residents of Ludlow Street, the council also said it would formulate parking restrictions along about half of the northwestern side of the street along with extended signage and striping and more enforcement against u-turns on the street in order to deal with parking and safety concerns.

Residents say those using the Westfield YMCA often take up parking spaces in front of their homes for the entire day, make unsafe u-turns in driveways and block driveways.