Public Works

Borough Terrace
Office: 973-538-4494

Superintendent: John Signorelli
email: jsignorelli@morrisplainsboro.org

Responsibilities

The Borough’s Department of Public Works provides many of the services residents come to rely on daily, including:

• Maintenance of all Borough roads; i.e. repairing potholes, sealing, repairing Belgian block, street sweeping, preparing streets for paving
• Maintenance of 8 Borough parks and playgrounds:  Community; Children’s; Watnong; Court Road; Simons; Central Avenue;  9-11 Memorial; and Memorial Field
• Maintenance of Municipal Buildings and Grounds, including 12 buildings owned by the Borough
• Curbside leaf collection from mid-October until mid-December (depending on weather conditions & leaf fall)
• Snow plowing and ice control of Borough roadways and parking lots
• Installing and repairing directional, street name, regulatory and warning signage within on Borough-owned roads
• Installation and maintenance of storm drains
• Maintaining three sewer pumping stations
• Maintenance of Borough vehicles and mechanical equipment
• Removal of downed trees on Borough property
• Remove trees to clear streets and collect and dispose of any tree debris following storms

Fall Leaf Pick-Up

Instructions:

• Leaves should be raked in piles and placed at curbside from Oct 17th – Dec 9, 2022. Please do not place in bags or barrels for pick-up.
• Do not mix wood, branches, rocks, dirt, or grass clipping with leaves. Leaves will not be collected due to possible risk to the crew and damage to equipment. The homeowner is responsible to notify landscaping contractors.
• Do not place leaves closer than 10 feet to any storm drain inlet.
• Do not place yard waste at the curb or along the street except during pick-up times designated on the Borough website.

Grass Pick-Up 

Grass is picked up by the trash collection service, not DPW. Grass clippings can be composted on residential property or placed in reusable, covered containers and placed at curbside for recycling collection from spring to fall, specific dates to be announced.

• Place grass clippings in covered containers at the curb on Tuesday night for pick-up on Wednesday mornings.
• Cans must be less than 50 pounds and in no larger than a 32 gallon size container
• Twigs, weeds, potted plants, leaves and sticks cannot be mixed with grass for pick-up
• Do not bag grass clippings for municipal garbage collection.

Please refer to Borough ordinance 17A – Article 3, Containerized Yard Waste.

Brush Pick-Up

For a safer, cleaner street, put brush at curbside for pickup no earlier than 48 hours prior to scheduled pickup date.

• Brush will be picked up by the chipper starting the last Monday of the following months:
  • January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August and September
• To make BRUSH PICKUP more efficient, please do the following:
  • No branches or limbs more than 3 inches in diameter will be picked up. Only branches, limbs and logs that can be chipped will be collected.
  • Small limbs and twigs should be tied in 1-foot round bundles no longer than six feet.
  • All branches, limbs, or logs should be no longer than 6 feet, neatly stacked, all in one direction. No more than 3 inches in diameter is allowed.
  • Vines and pricker bushes must be tied in bundles.
  • Stumps are to be free of dirt and debris.
  • No leaves or grass clippings are allowed with Brush Pickup.
  • No lumber, metal, building material or foreign debris are allowed.

REMINDER:

If you hire an OUTSIDE CONTRACTOR to cut down a tree, trim trees, bushes and/or provide landscaping,

the Contractor is responsible for hauling it away, not the borough.

VIOLATIONS:

If Brush Pickup procedures are not followed, brush will not be picked up and a notice will be left describing the violation(s).

Please refer to Borough ordinance 17A – Article 2, Yard Waste Collection Program.

Christmas Tree Pick Up

Christmas Tree Pick up is Jan 2nd through Jan 19th, 2023. No brush will be picked up. No plastic bags, nails wire or ornaments are to be left on trees.

Snow Removal

Listed below are the Borough’s ordinances related to inclement weather, parking and the removal of snow / ice.

Important note: Please be sure you are signed up for alerts which are email and/or text messages from the Borough.Visit  Stay Connected Page to subscribe to alerts.

Snow Parking

Please make every effort to remove your parked car from roadways during snowstorms so plows can clear the streets.

Requirements from Ord. No. 9-61, §§ 1, 2; No. 8-94, § 1

(a)  Whenever snow has fallen and the accumulation is such that it covers the streets of the Borough, no vehicle shall be parked on any of the following streets:

• Central Avenue – entire length
• Franklin Place – entire length
• Glenbrook Road – entire length
• Granniss Avenue – entire length
• Malapardis Road – between Littleton Road and Johnson Road
• Mountain Way – entire length
• Stiles Avenue – entire length
• Sunrise Drive – entire length
• Sun Valley Way- between Graniss Ave and Sunrise Drive
• The above parking prohibitions shall remain in effect after the snow has ceased until the streets have been plowed sufficiently and to the extent that parking will not interfere with the normal flow of traffic.

Ord. No. 9-61, § 4]

Any unoccupied vehicle parked or standing in violation of this article shall be deemed a nuisance and a menace to the safe and proper regulation of traffic, and any peace officer may provide for the removal of such vehicle. The owner shall pay the reasonable costs of the removal and storage, which may result from such removal, before regaining possession of the vehicle.

Snow & Ice Removal

Full rules visit: [Ord. No. 8-61, § 1-5]

• Removing snow and ice keeps our sidewalks safe for walking during winter.  If you are the owner or tenant of a house, building or lot abutting or bordering upon the sidewalk or gutters of any public streets in the Borough, you must remove or cause to be removed from the abutting sidewalks and gutters all snow and ice within 12 hours of daylight after the snow fall.
• Sidewalks must be kept clear of ice or made safe by covering the ice with sand or salt.
• It is illegal to displace your snow or ice onto the road or another’s sidewalk or property (see: Ord. 6-12-47, § 4; Ord. No. 15-88, § 2^1]).  Fines will be issued for each day these rules are not adhered to.  If the Morris Plains Department of Public Works must clear a sidewalk where an owner or caretaker has not, a lien will be placed against the property.

Thank you for your cooperation in making Morris Plains a safer place, especially during inclement weather.  Please direct all questions regarding the above ordinances to the Morris Plains Police Department at (973) 538-2284.

Storm Drains

Keep all storm drains free of debris.

Do not dump any debris in storm drains.