Hundreds say ‘Cheese’

ABOUT* l.#00 received 5-lbs. blocks of cheese Friday at the Rio Grande I

Rfo GRANDE — The first pbasd of a three-part countyWide program to put cheese on the tables of sohie of the county’s needier families got underway here Friday with distribution to.participants in the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and . Food

Stamp programs.

Offered in conjunction with the U.S. Dept, of Agriculture and coordinated by the; county’s United Way first Call for Help — the program will include the distribution of more than 12,000 pounds of gpvernment Subsidized American processed cheese to eligible County residents. TWO OTHER PHASES of the programs — to begin later this month — will cover alf other people eligible within federal poverty guidelines and "congregate feeding" programs such as the County Office on Aging's nutrition program. Cheese allocations will also be ihade to

Cape Human Resources’ Hdad Start centers and along with other dairy products available ffom the U.S. Dept, of Agriculture, will be used in the preparation of meals for children and senior citizens. -Birthday Closings~\ Schools ns well, iris county, and municipal tyijdings wilj be closed and many government services postponed this Friday and next Monday is obser.vance of Llncpln’s and Washington's birthdays.

Vol.17 No.6

IW1 t»OwO»« Corp All

February 10,1982

The

Week's

Top Stories

News* Digest

Regrettably False MILLVILLE — Senator James Hurley has joined State Police Superintendent Colonel Clinton Pagano in deploring the negative effect upon Jersey Cape resorts resulting from recently publicized statewide crime statistics in which Stone Harbor and Wildwood were included in a list of municipalities with high crime

rates.

Pagno, who said his wife summers at Stone Harbor, told Hurley’s staff the crime activity ratings of communities on the shore had been based upon winter time populations. "These had resulted in totally false figures.” the superintendent said, "and I regret it." Below Standards CREST HAVEN - The County Freeholders have agreed to hire an ar chitect to study the Crest Haven Nursing Home to determine what improvements should be made to update the facilities. According to Freeholder Gerald Thornton, bedrooms in the facility — built in 1952 and updated in 1961 — no longer comply with stale standards. He said that more beds are needed to accommodate the ever growing number of patients, and that the addition of facilities for people who only need short-term medical attention would be desirable. Not Quite as High CAPE MAY — In the wake of opposition from the business community and local residents. City Council on Monday unanimously increased beach fees on a schedule proposed by the local Chamber . of Commerce. Following a two-hourpublic hearing, it was decided to raise beach tags purchased thru the mails from $4 to 18, to up seasonal tags bought prior to May 31 from $4 to $7.50, to hike seasonal tags bought after May 31 to $9. and weekly tags from $2 to $4. Thp city had originally sought an increase to $10. CAPE MAY POINT - The price of beach tags in this neighboring resort is also going to increase: from $4 to $5 before May 31, $6 to $7 afterwards; weekly tags will remain at $3. Public hearing on the amended tag fees is 8 p.m. Thursday at the fireball. Same Tax Rate * MIDDLE TWP. — Township residents here will have no tax increase this year, although the municipality’s overall operating budget is up about $300,000 (Page 15 Please)

To STEP on Utility

by Bob Shiles There’s going to be a fight the next time Atlantic Electric approaches the state Board of Public Utility commissioners for a rate increase. It’s guaranteed. That’s the attitude the Lower Township Chamber of Commerce has taken as it prepares to battle the industrial giant, which is expected to soon ask for rate hike greater than the $51 million it received sofne 16 months ago. The Chamber last Wednesday pfficially launched its campaign with the announce 1 ment that it is forming a special task force known as Stop The Electric Punch (STEP). Currently in the process of incorporating, the group is co-chaired by vice president Stewart Millard and public relations director E. Warren Gfitrctson. Avalon attorney Ray Battan will handle legal affairs, and the organization's accountant is W. Scott McGonigle. Named to represent local senior citizens in the initial group is Frank Alburger. ACC ORDING TO MILLARD, the group intends to fight the utility based on facts, figures and comparative studies. STEP plans to compare Atlantic Electric with other electric companies - found primari-

ly in resort areas — in such areas as dividend returns, cost per kilowatt hour, manpower costs and amount of top management personnel. "We’re going at it on a professional basis," the chairman said last Sunday. "We’re not getting involved in the emotional asspect of the argument. We’re using facts." As an example of the difference in cost between Atlantic Electric and electric companies serving other resort areas, Millard noted that while local residents are paying about & 1/2 cents per kilowatt hour, those in the PocOnos pay only about 3 1/2 cents per kilowatt hour. The situation is similar in the Baltimoh? area where the cost of electricity is between 3 and 5 cents per kilowatt hour, he continued. "There has to be a problem somewhere for them [Atlantic Electric 1 to charge that kind of money,” Millard said THE CHAIRMAN WENT ON to charge that everyone is complaining about the cost of their electric bills. As a businessman — of the Villas Market — he said thal his utility bill is the second largest expense he has. (Page 14 Please)

Weather Station Due in Bay Boaters oh the Delaware Bay will soon be able to instantly find out the area's wave and wind Conditions without.having to .depend oh reports coming from Philadelphia The County is currently involved in a cooperative effort with the National Weather Service to develop and install a wind and wave transmitting device in the Brandywine Shoal area. According to county Planning Board director Elwood Jariher, the need for such a mechanism was indicated in' a 1979 study conducted to determine navigational problehis in the Delaware Bay. THE 1979 STUDY funded thru a state Coastal Energy Impart Grant, determined there exists in the bay potential for collisions and groundings of large tankers. Problem areas included both the markings at the bay's entrance and in shipping channels, as well as the potential for groun-. dings and collisions in the anchorage area. Jarmer explained recently that the study also indicated a deficiency in the ability to obtain instant reports on bay weather. He said that ships entering the bay are unable to determine what wind and wave conditions are ahead. THIS INFORMATION — along with the discovery that the National Weather Service was also considering the need to put some kind of recording device near Brandywine Light -- led the county to seek stale funding to’ conduct study to determine what kind of equipment should be used, .where it - should be placed, and how it shbuld be installed According to Mr. Jarmer, the $28,78! grant will enable Engineering Computers Optecnomics of Annapolis, Md , to design and draw up specifications Jor the equipment The project will take about six months. "OUR PART I IS TO help get the idea from what it ought to be to the specifics." jarmer said. The National Weather Ser (Pige 14 Pleast?)

But U.S. May Quash '< • v Public Boat Ramp on Canal Eyed

by Bob Shiles If Lower Township officials can get the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to see eye-to-eye with the New Jersey Dept, of Environmental Protection, it may not be too long before area boating enthusiasts will have public boat launch facilities to use, either in the area of the Cape May^Lewes Ferry or along Wissahlckon Ave. near the Rt. 109 canal bridge. In a recent letter to Mayor Tom Clydesdale, DEP Assistant Commissioner Donald T. Graham acknowledged that in the vicinity of both the Ferry and Wissahickon Ave. there "exists several sites which wbuld be acceptable for developing as public boat launch facilities." He also stressed, however, that such construction would require a waterfront development permit from the state Bureau of Coastal Review, in addition to any permits required by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. BUT ACCORDING TO local Environmental Commission chairman Robert Imler, although the DEP may feel there are numerous sites in the area suitable for municipal boat launching facilities, the Corps of Engineers will probably not grant a permit. "They don’t like any development on the canal," he told members of the Mayor’s

Advisory Board last Tuesday "I also think there will be problems at the end of Wissahickon Ave.," the chairman continued. "That piece of property was deedv '

ed to the Environmental Commission to maintain access to the Canal." The suggestion for a municipal boat (Page 15 Please)

CONCRETE RUBBLE pt the foot of WUsahlckon Ave. by the edge of the canal marks tb spot proposed as one possible site for the boatramp. The canal bridge embankment is at right, ■ -