Westfield Area Chamber of Commerce - Westfield, New Jersey

Fanwood

Fanwood is a borough in Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 7,318.

Fanwood was incorporated as a borough by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on October 2, 1895, from portions of Fanwood Township (now known as Scotch Plains), based on the results of a referendum held the previous day.

Geography

Fanwood is located at 40°38′31″N 74°23′07″W (40.641852, -74.385334).
The borough is bordered by Plainfield in the southwest and by Scotch Plains in all other directions.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 1.3 square miles (3.5 km2), all of it land.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 7,174 people, 2,574 households, and 2,054 families residing in the borough. The population density was 5,363.4 people per square mile (2,067.1/km2). There were 2,615 housing units at an average density of 1,955.0 per square mile (753.5/km2). The racial makeup of the borough was 88.30% White, 5.14% African American, 0.10% Native American, 4.39% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.79% from other races, and 1.24% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.74% of the population.

There were 2,574 households out of which 38.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 70.0% were married couples living together, 7.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.2% were non-families. 18.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.76 and the average family size was 3.13.

In the borough the population was spread out with 25.8% under the age of 18, 4.5% from 18 to 24, 31.3% from 25 to 44, 23.8% from 45 to 64, and 14.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 91.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.9 males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $85,233, and the median income for a family was $99,232. Males had a median income of $65,519 versus $40,921 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $34,804. About 1.6% of families and 3.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.6% of those under age 18 and 6.5% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Local government

Fanwood is governed under the Borough form of New Jersey municipal government. The government consists of a Mayor and a Borough Council comprising six council members, with all positions elected at large. A Mayor is elected directly by the voters to a four-year term of office. The Borough Council consists of six members elected to serve three-year terms on a staggered basis, with two seats coming up for election each year.

The Borough Council is Fanwood's legislative body and may pass, adopt, amend and repeal any ordinance or where permitted, any resolution, for any purpose required for the government of the municipality, and also controls and regulates the finances of the municipality. The Council may investigate any activity of the municipality, remove any officer of the municipality for cause other than those excepted by law and shall have all the executive responsibilities of the municipality not placed by general law, in the office of the Mayor. The Mayor of Fanwood is responsible for serving as the chief executive officer of borough government. The mayor presides over the Borough Council, appoints various boards and committees, oversees borough administration, and serves as the borough's ceremonial head.

As of 2011, the Mayor of Fanwood Borough is Colleen M. Mahr (D, term ends December 31, 2011). Fanwood Council Members are Council President Joan Wheeler (D, 2011), Russell Huegel (D, 2011), Robert Manduca (R, 2012), Katherine Mitchell (D, 2013), Anthony Parenti (R, 2013) and Michael Szuch (R, 2012).

Fire Department

The Fanwood Fire Department is a volunteer fire department with 30 members that operate out of one fire station. The department has two engines, one quint and a chief's vehicle.

Federal, state and county representation

Fanwood is in the 7th Congressional district and is part of New Jersey's 22nd state legislative district.
New Jersey's Seventh Congressional District is represented by Leonard Lance (R, Clinton Township). New Jersey is represented in the United States Senate by Frank Lautenberg (D, Cliffside Park) and Bob Menendez (D, Hoboken).
Fanwood is in the 22nd Legislative District of the New Jersey Legislature, which is represented in the New Jersey Senate by Nicholas Scutari (D, Linden) and in the New Jersey General Assembly by Jerry Green (D, Plainfield) and Linda Stender (D, Fanwood).
Union County is governed by a Board of Chosen Freeholders, whose nine members are elected at-large to three-year terms of office on a staggered basis with three seats coming up for election each year. As of 2011, Union County's Freeholders are Chairman Deborah P. Scanlon (Union, term ends December 31, 2012), Vice Chairman Alexander Mirabella (Fanwood, 2012), Linda Carter (Plainfield, 2013), Angel G. Estrada (Elizabeth, 2011), Christopher Hudak (Linden, 2011), Mohamed S. Jalloh (Roselle, 2012), Bette Jane Kowalski (Cranford, 2013), Daniel P. Sullivan (Elizabeth, 2013) and Nancy Ward (Linden, 2011).

Education

Public school students in Fanwood attend the schools of the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Regional School District, which has students in Grades PreK-12 from the Township of Scotch Plains and the Borough of Fanwood. The district has five elementary schools (PreK-Grade 4), two middle schools (Grades 5-8), and one comprehensive high school (Grades 9-12).
Schools in the district (with 2008-09 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are five elementary schools — Howard B. Brunner Elementary School (PreK-4; 463 students), J. Ackerman Coles School (K-4; 519), Evergreen School (PreK-4; 405), William J. McGinn School (474) and School One (389) — Park Middle School (823) and Terrill Middle School (847) for grades 6-8, along with Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School (1,468) for grades 9-12.

Transportation

The Fanwood station (also known as Fanwood-Scotch Plains), is a New Jersey Transit railroad station on the Raritan Valley Line. The building on the north side of the tracks (westbound platform) is a Victorian building and, like the north building at Westfield, is used by a non-profit organization. The ticket office is in the station building on the south side of the tracks (eastbound platform). The station provides service to Penn Station in Newark, and from there to Hoboken Terminal or Penn Station in Midtown Manhattan.