Nov 2012 - Nassau Journals

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28 THE JOURNAL NOVEMBER 2012 COMMUNITY YARD SALE By Annie Gonzales The 12th Annual Community Yard Sale, held on September 29, was a great success thanks to many Hightstown and East Windsor residents selling their wares. There were lots of great finds that included games, antique furniture, decorative mirrors, sewing machines, jewelry, locally made honey, clothes, shoes, blankets, quilts, CDs, records, lamps, and so much more. Sponsored by the Borough of Hightstown, the yard sale, headquartered at the Hightstown-Apollo Lodge #41 on Main Street, was an all-day event. To sign up for next year’s event, visit www.hightstownborough.com for more information. Blood drive First United Methodist Church Local honey The Apollo Lodge We Will Never Forget MONTHLY CRANBURY REPORT continued 39 vehicle crashes within Cranbury limits, 14 arrests, two DUI incidents and eight warrant arrests. There were seven criminal and one administrative investigation underway. Denise Marabello in her Township Administrator’s report said that the township needed to renegotiate its police dispatch contract and that sharing services with Hightstown had saved the township an estimated $110,000. Also there was a sewer main contract with Monroe that needed to be negotiated. Catherine Frohbieter, Chair of the Human Services Committee appeared before the committee with Betty Conover to request additional help in administering programs for Cranbury seniors. Glenn Johnson and Dan Mulligan discussed bringing Human Services under the Recreation Department, as it had a part time staffing budget. It may also be possible to get the county involved in providing support services to seniors. Dan Mulligan is the Township Committee’s liaison to the Human Services Committee. On October 8, the meeting began by recognizing and commending the residents who were instrumental in saving the old school building. Cited were: Charles & Clara Amend, Donald Armstrong, Bill Bunting, Jake Cook, Mary Morgan, Magnus Ostergaard, Kate Shankweiler, Louis Spence, Mahbubeh Stave, Emma Stultz, Stan Tarr, Barbara Thomsen, and Norman Wright On September 24 and October 8, the township committee discussed which projects to include in the township’s annual grant application to the New Jersey Department of Transportation. Bill Tanner, Township Engineer attended both meetings. He confirmed that the township could only submit two projects and each must be a different category of project. He explained that if a grant were to be approved, it would be for around $200,000. After a lot of detailed discussion the township committee opted to apply for two projects, one relating to town beautification and the other for $560,000 to re-pave 4,800 feet of Cranbury Brickyard Road that connected Route 130 to Monroe. Tanner confirmed that the state was very interested in improving connectivity when awarding road repair grants. There was a heated discussion from several advocates who felt Petty Road in Cranbury was a disgrace as well as a potential accident risk. After visiting Petty Road and speaking to Connie Bauder and other residents there, Bill Tanner reported that the project there would involve well over $1 million, and could not even begin without determining the ownership of easements and also conducting a drainage study. The township committee voted to apply for funding for the Cranbury Brickyard road on October 8. This was not well received by advocates for Petty Road. The township committee decided to budget an initial phase of work on Petty Road in the 2013 budget and hoped to apply for County funding as well. Other business on October 8: A motion to appoint a Township Tax assessor was passed. Township committee member Susan Goetz reported on a Board of Health clinic for local pets. There were 99 animals seen of 188 dogs licensed. She reported that last year they had 280 dogs so it was possible that there were unlicensed dogs in Cranbury or a mass exodus of canines in the past year. She felt a survey was called for and proposed that the feasibility of doing it online be considered first. A database of animal owners was also to be purchased. Jay Taylor reported a significant uptick in permit fees with $35, 821 for building, and $16,260 for electrical permits.
THE JOURNAL NOVEMBER 2012 29 CHECK PRESENTED FOR VETERANS SERVICES From left, Leonard J. Roseman, chairman, Middlesex County Improvement Authority; Jason Conway of Provident Bank, the event’s main sponsor; Middlesex County College President Joann La Perla-Morales; David Brimmer, director of the Center for Veterans Services; and Chip Wieczorek of Provident Bank. The Friends of Middlesex County Charity Golf Classic presented a check for $2,500 to the Middlesex County College Center for Veterans Services. This gift will help the center extend services to military veterans and service members studying at the college. HOLIDAY FOOD DRIVE FOR THE GREATER CRANBURY COMMUNITY The Board of Deacons of the First Presbyterian Church of Cranbury are organizing a Holiday Food Drive. “This year, more families than ever before are in need of holiday food baskets” said Food Drive Co-Chairperson Flo Kremann. “The church runs a year round food pantry and the number of families served each month has increased by 40 percent in the last year.” Items needed for the holiday drive include canned fruits and vegetables, boxed potatoes, rice, gravy, cereals, cranberry sauce, cake/ muffin mixes, peanut butter, jellies/jams. Items may be dropped off in collection boxes just inside of Fellowship Hall at the First Presbyterian Church, 22 South Main Street in Cranbury. The food drive is going on now through Saturday November 10. Donations received after the 10th will be used by Skeet’s Pantry. “Through the generosity of the community and neighboring churches, we were able to provide over 125 baskets of food last year,” said Pastor Louis Mitchell. “The Holiday Food Drive and Skeet’s Pantry are two of our most important missions as a congregation. Right now the shelves are pretty bare, so we are reaching out to the community for help.” To make things even easier, the Cranbury Boy Scouts will distribute collection bags to homes in Cranbury on Saturday November 3. The bags will be collected the following Saturday and brought to the church for distribution. Collection boxes will also be setup in the annex of the Cranbury School. For additional information on donating food or to offer to volunteer, please call the church office at (609)395 0897. CUB SCOUT TROOP 53 Enterprising boys form East Windsor Troop 53 out selling popcorn to raise money. Scenes such as this were common throughout the area in October. MEET THE CANDIDATES continued budget to budget, thereby providing for a little more slack even if expenses on a particular line item had gone down in the previous year. Both the challengers and the incumbents agreed on the need to increase ratables, but the Republicans favored a more proactive approach, while the Democrats pointed to a relatively low five-percent occupancy rate in warehousing capability. Engaging the Voting Public: Tom Connolly’s suggestion to increase community participation by broadcasting via cable or podcasting meetings on the Internet attracted spirited comment. Many of the older attendees felt that this would actually reduce voter participation, as residents would be less inclined to show up and interact directly with each other and their representatives. A younger attendee thought the idea would be popular among younger residents with busy schedules. Connolly’s co-candidate Cindy Smithers, was in favor of broadcasting meetings live as it would serve to engage younger voters. Neither of the incumbent representatives spoke against Tom’s idea, saying they would look into the issue and possibly explore funding options with Comcast in the new year. Petty Road Differences About a Recent Grant Application: Tom Connolly castigated the incumbents for allegedly making a hasty decision on which project to seek a Department of Transportation grant for. He felt that the township committee, at their October 8 meeting, should have waited for Petty Road residents to weigh in about their needs. Connolly’s father Peter Connolly who lived on Petty Road, was at the committee meeting. The elder Connolly, who described himself as “possibly the largest tax payer in Cranbury,” felt the Petty Road residents were justified in seeking repairs to a road that was both a “traffic hazard and an embarrassment to the entire town.” The township committee discussed the issue over three consecutive meetings, and Township Engineer Bill Tanner made alternate recommendations that were more likely to receive grant funding. The committee suggested that, though work toward the project needed to be addressed in the next budget, there were legal and drainage-related issues that needed to be resolved first. A Discussion on Shared Services and Outsourcing: All the candidates disavowed any interest in outsourcing Cranbury’s Police Department. Cranbury’s is the second smallest municipality in Middlesex County. As for the Public Works Department, the Republican challengers seem willing to outsource or share more functions. Also, costs like the controversial new storage shed for The Audience meets the candidates Public Works Department employees were criticized. Connolly Pointed out that the township had done just fine for 315 years without the $300,000+ storage shed. The incumbents felt that the Public Works employees provided faster response times and also serviced on the volunteer fire force. According to Jay Taylor (a recently signed-on volunteer fire fighter), two staff members receive an extra dollar an hour in their pay for serving on the undermanned fire company that is staffed by volunteers. The Public Works Department also manages the township’s recycling program. Overall, the meeting served to apprise the voting public on the issues. PHONE (609) 371-4631 • FAX (732) 431-9379 • WWW.THEJOURNALNJ.COM Support Our Advertisers
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Nov 2012 - Nassau Journals

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