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The Herald

THURSDAY, JANUARY 18,1979

Editorial TOO MANY AMBULANCES IN COUNTY? The Southern New Jersey Health Systems Agency, a non-profit corporation funded by the federal government to study health care needs in South Jersey, is advocating another poorly conceived proposal. (This is the same agency that recommended that the maternity wards at Burdette Tomlin Hospital be closed down because they have fewer than 500 births a year.) Their latest unreasonable plan states there are too many ambulances in South Jersey. According to national guidelines, "there should be only 1 ambulance per 10,000, population. In Cape May County, there is now one for every 2,120 population. The members of the Cape May County Advisory Council to the H.S.A. said they were not consulted about the plan and that recommendations of local county groups were not taken into consideration. This is just one more case where branches of federal and state bureaucracies interfere in local situations without giving any consideration to individual circumstances. The resort quality of Cape May County, where each summer there is an influx of hundreds of thousands, is ignored. Even the 1 in 10,000 guideline is not realistic for large rural underpopulated areas. Would 6 or 7 ambulances be sufficient to take care of all emergencies in Cape May County, including Ocean City, in the winter? In the urbanized and densely populated cities of North Jersey, such recommendations may be justified. The problem with many bureaucratic decisions and regulations is that they fail to take into consideration that some areas have different circumstances and needs. Those whose job it is to implement such regulations seldom question the material written down for them to follow. It was obviously unjustifiable and not in the public interest to consider closing the maternity department at Burdette. Yet it took a great deal of vocal public opposition and the active efforts of municipal, county and state elected officials to amend that recommendation Unfortunately, these agencies, which are advisory in nature, have a powerful influence. Their recommendations can affect federal funding of health care in the area. Letters to the Editor

A VOICE IS HEARD To the Editor: It’s Good News Today! Jan. 15, 1979. At 2:45 P.M. a phone message from Senator Cafiero at the State Capitol informing me that the Senate voted today on the Bill A.B. 688 with the record 16 Yea and 16 Nay. The Senator went on to say that this means the bill has been defeated. One of the most interesting part of his conversation was the opening of same when he said, “I am calling about “Viewpoint”. Not only did I write to every State Senator with a personal letter but I followed that letter with a photo copy of the column “Viewpoint” from the Thursday, Jan. 4th issue of the Herald. In writing to Senator Cafiero thanking him for keeping me informed with this particularly gratifying information, I asked him to, if it was not too much trouble, give me a readout of the Senate vote. George M. Scattergood Avalon

MASTER PLAN OBJECTION Mayor and Commissioners Borough of Avalon Avalon, NJ. The Master Plan recently proposed by the Planning Board; although probably adopted with the community’s best interest at

heart, appears to be a senseless waste of the taxpayers time and money. Many of the items included in the plan tend to hurt the community rather than help it. The plan calls for the re-installation of parking meters - a subject of great controversy in the past year and the development of wetlands adjacent to Graven’s Island - also a subject of previous argument. Our major cause for concern is the proposal of a walking mall on 21st St. It has been said in the past that 21st Street has a parking problem. The only parking problem on the street is created by delivery trucks which continue to double park in the middle of the street, whether there is space available at the curb or not. Closing 21st Street will: 1. Create a hardship on our business which is solely conducive to automobile traffic and decrease the value of our particular business. 2. Close the main feeder street for the people over 21st Street Bridge to reach the center of town. This was already found to be objectionable when it was made one way East a few years ago. 3. Place extreme hardship on the families who have lived on the street for many years. 4. Remove 1/3 or more of the Princeton Hotel & Rock Room’s off street parking plus the parking available on 21st Street creating a further parking problem in the summer. 5) Add to the problems of the Police Dept. by necessitating a walking Patrolman on duty in the area at all times. Vandalism in the summer during night time hours is already a problem resulting from the huge crowds of young people drawn to the area. It will also be a winter problem with the absence of motor traffic and many of the buildings and stores closed for the winter. For years the complaint was that the business area was too spread out. The 21st Street area has slowly closed down and has few active stores on it. The main business area is now concentrated on Dune Drive and more interest should be generated into making that as attractive to shop owners and shoppers as possible. Why spread the shopping area over an even larger part of the community? It would seem far more sensible and profitable if people were encouraged to build or rent stores on Dune Drive between 20th and 33rd Street, which would make a central and convenient area concentrated on one major street. It would also be far less expensive for the taxpayers. Another thought that might be considered would be to permit Mr. Millar to build the walking mall he wants to so badly. (Continued to Page 6)

Last Week in Cape May County. It’s been COLD - and it looks like it’s not going to get much warmer. “When winter comes - can spring be far behind? In WOODBINE, 4 councilmen walked out of the borough meeting when Mayor; Thomas Levin said 2 of them should be disqualified from voting for appointment of solicitor ... In CAPE MAY COURSE HOUSE, 8 people are contending for the vacant seat on the MUA In WILDWOOD, Mayor Guy Muziani suggests the name of the Atlantic City Expressway be changed to the Jersey Shore Expressway to remind tourists there are other resorts besides Atlantic City. NORTH WILDWOOD and GRASSY SOUND bus riders will have to get on and off T.NJ. busses at Wildwood’s Oak Ave. terminal and Burleigh until the Beach Creek Bridge repairs are finished in mid-March ... In MAYVILLE, the wild cats of Cape May County have struck again! They are now ripping the insulation from under trailers. A year ago, Avalon gained national notoriety when residents reported “ferocious” wild cats living in the meadowland ... In CAPE MAY construction workers have begun laying pipe which it is hoped will correct severe drainage problems in the Village Greene area ... In CAPE MAY , the Coast Guard believes a missing 70 foot tugboat capsized ... In UPPER TOWNSHIP, officials will fight the loss of utility taxes from power plants located in rural communities. Governor Byrne has pledged to redistribute these taxes to urban communities ... In AVALON, the Zoing Board turned down an application for a variance for a duplex home presented by the

Perskie-Callinan Pension Fund ... Congressman Charles Sandman In CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE, is on trial for allegedly libeling a former U.S. Cape May policeman ...

[cartoon] THE SOVEREIGN STATE of AFFAIRS BOYD & WOOD

CAPE MAY COUNTY HERALD Largest Circulation In the Country Oldest Free Weekly In The County Our Thirteenth year serving Cape May County P.O. Box 0 2789 Dune Drive Avalon, N.J. 08202 Phone 967-3312 967-72089 Published Every Thursday By The Avalon Publishing Company, Inc. Jana Ann Cunningham EDITOR & PUBLISHER Frank G. Stone GENERAL MANAGER John M. Taman ADVERTISING SALES Mike Franco COMPOSITION Bill Hendrixson OFFSET PHOTOGRAPHY Alan Eckert GRAPHIC ARTS Alan Eckert DISTRIBUTION Mike Franco, Peter Dunne, Bill Sherman, Johanna Ludewig FEATURE WRITERS (Subscription Yearly $7.00) Advertisements Tuesday - 5 P.M. News & Pictures . .C.M.C. Herald Deadline Tuesday - 5 P.M. Classified Ads Tuesday - 5 P.M. Neither participating advertisers nor the publishers of the HERALD will be responsible or liable for misinformation misprints, typographical errors, etc. in any issue. The editor reserves the right to edit any letter or articles submitted for publication.