Herald & Lantern 28 December '83

Sam Hits Lotoer’s Burn Plan-

(From Page i) "You can’t do a study tor $3,500,” he added. citing opinions from engineers he’s contacted. "A bona fide consulting firm would charge $100 an hour. " Stubbs said he has asked those engineers to neview the township consultants' study. He expects a reply this week, but not before tonight's meeting. "The concept is good," said Stubbs of incineration. "However, when you speak of the Harbison-Walker property...! see problems involved down there...” Referring tQ potential complications with the state and federal environmental agencies, which regulate the Wetlands etci Stubbs added: “In this particular in- , staface, they’re (township committeemembers) moving a little bit too fast — especially since they’re lame ducks.' • I DON’T EVEN KNOW who the hell they are,” he continued, voicing a entuysm of the township consultants shared by de la Cretaz. After she bought a $20 copy of their report, de la Cretaz, a Lower school board member, did some checkingon its authors, Sanborn-Wielenga Associates of Kalamazoo. Mich. That firm is not listed, a>e said, in standard business references, with the New Jersey Secretary of State’s office or in Kalamazoo phone directories. Her call to the county clerk’s office in r Wc need your type. Donate Blood. + American Red Craw

Kalamazoo revealed, she added, that the consulting firm had a business license there, but it expiredjh May, 1962. Aside from the county clerk in Michigan, “nobody’s heard of Sanborn-Wielenga Associates,” de la Cretaz domplained Friday. ‘Tin really angry.” “TTiey go and hire these people and they don’t even check out their credentials.” Furthermore, she said, converting the Harbison-Walker plant into an incineratorpowered industrial complex will be more expensive than anticipated. “FothergHl’s not just talking about a million; it’s going to take an excess of a million dollars to renovate it,” de la Cretaz estimated. “I certainly would like to see an ipvestigation of the company," she said of the consultants. “It certainly would be interesting to see how they were hired and why they were hired from Kalamazoo, Mich.” ANTICIPATING Fothergill’s response — that she and Stubbs are politically motivated in criticizing the proposed plans for the magnesite plant — de la Cretaz said she does not want to see taxpayers money spent on incineration plans without information on how and why it is spent. "Everything in Lower Township, according to the township committee, is political,” she scoffed. “Mr. Stubbs and Mrs. de la Cretaz are not interested in the welfare of the taxpayers. They’re interested in benefiting their campaign for township council," Fothergill countered Friday, referring to the spring elections for five new council members.

township,” Fothergill griped. “I would like to see an open, intelligent debate on the merits of the incinerator con-* cept,” he said, suggesting that Stubbs, de la Cretaz and others with questions about the proposed plan, how it was prepared and by whom, attend such a session. A public hearing on the issue has been tentatively scheduled for the third week of January, he said. Fresh from a meeting with the county Municipal Utilities Authority last Wednesday night, Fothergill also reported that the township will wait until the MUA completes its feasibility study on incineration at the 125-acre Harbison-Walker property before fully pressing its concepts. Meanwhile, he said, Lower officials will continue negoUations with HarbisonWalker toward possible township acquisition of the bayside tract and the proposed conversion of its plant into a municipallyowned, incinerator-powered industrial complex. The township, he added, will also begin its search for an engineering firm and potential users of the expected steam power. “We will proceed to fiU in the outer parameters of the proposed project,” Fothergill explained. “But no substantial taxpayer money will be expended until we hear from the MUA.” During the meeting with the MUA last week, its officials "took the position that the incinerator has to be part of their overall (solid waste management) plan,” Fothergill continued. BEFORE THAT MEETING. George Marinakis, MUA executive director, said

Here’s a Nurse (From Page 1) ing appointments interfere with her

family

"If need be. they come with me," Karaso said of her two children, Jennifer, 11. and Timmy, 7. Karaso packs up the coloring books and crayons, along with her medical miscellanea, and heads for her

appointments, children in tow.

TIIK CHILDREN also have gone to work with their father, who works seven days a week in the summer as the manager of a fufhiture store and an interior designer. Kargso thinks it is great that her children have an opportunity to see. first hand, just

what their parents do.

"If you have to be away, at least let them know why you’re away." said Karaso who has worked at Abington and Jeannes hospitals in Pennsylvania, as well as Burdette Tomlin in Court House. Working as a hospital nurse before and after each of her children was born, Karaso yearned for a more flexible work day which allowed more time for her children She envied a friend who worked for Portamedic and jokingly suggested the friend let her know if she ever decided to quit The joke led Karaso to a job four years ago when the friend decided to

return to hospital nursing.

"I WORK FOR really great peopLf^o,

said of her superiors in Trenton. Y£Csl

also is independent in her work.

"I’m my own boss, virtually, and I like •that," explained the graduate of Bucks County Technical School in Pennsylvania. She performs physicals for all types of insurance purposes, including group, individual. mortgage and disability insurance. Also, she can deal with any insurance agency which is approved by the

state.

Portamedic pays Karaso for each exam and for mileage to each appointment, which she tries to group together in time

and location.

I would be making*l!“fa(Uastic salary," * said of her work if shewere working

she

full-time. However, she generally can limit her schedule 10 a few hours a day. She doesn't mind trading off a high salary'

for time with her family.

Stubbs has already announced his intention to run for one of those seats; de la Cretaz has not. “Nothing in their statements indicates in any way that there is anything (wrong) in the way the (incineration) study was prepared,” the committeeman added. “They don’t know what they are talking about and they are not interested in finding out if this is a good idea. They are just interested in playing politics in the Grassiest manner.” Replying to Stubbs’ contention that an incineration study could not be completed for the $3,500 paid to the township consultants, Fothergill said sarcastically: "Gee, we have a completed study — how 'bout that?” THE TOWNSHIP HIRED SanbornWielenga Associates from out-of-state because it could not find a more local consulting firm to take on the study at’a comparable price he said. As far as the consultants’ credentials are concerned, Fothergill added, a list of them is “in the Township Hall because, when they submitted it, we reviewed it. “I’m not afraid of the credentials (question) at all,” he insisted, noting that the consultants moved their operations from Michigan to Utah. “What we have here,” he continued, returning to criticism from Stubbs and de la Cretaz, “is the expected effort of the local political hacks to discredit the idea that could benefit every taxpayer in Lower Township. “It is depressing to see that certain poliUcal elements in the township are more interested in promoting their own selfish interest than in helping the

Response Lagging— (From Page 1) Lower, Middle, Upper and Dennis townships “because this equipment is designed for densely-housed areas with curbs you pick up from. It is very expensive to do door-to-door in rural areas.” IN APPLYING for the state-administer-ed grant of federal money, Jersey CSpe had identified municipal residents as its “priority target,” Plewa said, “in accordance with the MUA’s plans.” But Plewa met this month with MUA officials and received the go-ahead “to look at other potential customers as alternative sources. “We may go back to a lot of these places and offer summer-only collection,” Plewa said. “The MUA believes that when tipping fees increase next spring (when the new landfill opens in Woodbine, they’ll be clammering for our service. We hope that will happen. “Although I’m disappointed,” Plewa said, “we’ve only been in business five months..." PLEWA SAID the second portion of that project, manufacturing beach tags, is on schedule with a new machine that will print, color, cut out and number the tags due in February “so we can get this season’s business.” The $35,000 machine will require tooling costing another $15,000, he said, and will provide 90-100 jobs for about four months for the agency’s handicapped clients if it

County Eyes ’84 Budget-

Freeholder William E. Sturm Jr., director of revenue and finance, said the New Jersey "Cap Law” limits the county to a 6 percent increase next year in the amount of money to be raised by local taxes. The 1983 budget totaled not quite $33 million and was about $2 million more than the amount appropriated in 1982. It had a

7.5 percent “Cap."

STURM SAID the freeholders will present "an austerity budget” that “will concentrate on holding the line to keep the cost of county government at a level that the

(From Page 1)

m <1 icvei mai me revealed on Jan. 24 a

taxjjavers can afford and maintain and im- public after that date. Drove the necessarv servi/^»c ” mm.

with the amount of money available under

the “Cap” and the cutting begins. Last year’s original proposals were cut about $1 million, Mataiucci said. HEARINGS WITH department heads

will start the week of Jan. 14, Sturm said, and be open to the public. A complete

schedule will be announced, he said. Specific personnel salaries will not be

discussed at public sessions, Sturm added.

The proposed budget and Sturm’s an-

nual budget message are scheduled to be revealed on Jan. 24 and available to the

ppdvethe necessary services "

The 1964 budget process began in September when department heads received request forms and gqperal guidelines. With the exception of the Welfare Board, which is awaiting state approval of its budget, Sturm said, the departments now have given their requests to the freeholders. Willis, and coun-

ty Treasurer Philip A. Mataiucci.

These requeste are not unlike the Sears Christmas “Wish" catalog, chronicling what the department heads would like to have. Then the freeholders match the total

THE PUBLIC HEARING and budget adoption are slated for Feb. 28. In the past, the juxtaposition of the two has brought some complaints that what the public says has no effect on the budget formally

adopted moments later.

Sturm said, however, that the public may comment on the budget to the freeholders at any meetings between in-

troduction and Ifttoption.

The county budget has almost doubled in the last seven years. It was $17.7 million in 1977 and has climbed $2 million to $3

million every year since.

the MUA is not necessarily opposed to the township proposal for the magnesite plant. The MUA, he added, would not authorize Lower’s project until it has reviewed a formal township plan. Marinakis, however, was unavailable for comment on last week’s meeting. On Dec. 15, the MUA issued a press release, announcing its feasibility study of incineration at Die magnesite plant. Marinakis explained Dec. 18 that the MUA is considering the plant for one of several incinerators in the county. Since the Harbison-Walker property has been on sale for a minimum of $1 million and was recently revalued at twice that sum, Fothergill maintained that an incinerator facility there would be uneconomical for the MUA, but a moneymaker for the township. The township commissioned a $3,500 study which shows that Lower and neighboring municipalities can avoid the expense of hauling trash to distant landfills by burning it at incinerators in the converted magnesite plant. The saving to Lower alone would be incentive enough to proceed with the concept, Fothergill has argued. But the township would also collect income from other haulers who want their trash burned there and clients who use the energy the incinerators could produce. ONE POTENTIAL CLIENT has already been lined up; others have also expressed interest, the committeeman said. The township, he added, is drafting an application for a Small Cities grant to help finance the proposed project.

gets most of the county’s beach tag business. He estimated that at 1% million tags. The “pinning process’ is labor intensive, he said, requiring attaching a pin, bagging the tags, labeling and sealing them. Although Cape May County is “this year’s target,” Plewa said, his goal is to “work our way up the coast,” selling to other tourist towns. He pointed out that Jersey Cape is “exempt from bidding regulations because we’re putting the handicapped to work.” He also “hopes to expand into golf, pool, and fising clubs, condos, etc.,” he said, to make the tag production a year-round business. Jersey Cape has about 105 registered clients and an average daily attendance of 80-90, Plewa said. Moms, Tots (From Page 1) five earning over $21,000 is eligible, she said. Besides income eligibility, applicants must have a nutritional need such as anemia, poor growth, dietary inadequacies, etc. Need is reevaluated every six months, Kanaley said. Clients receive monthly and bimonthly vouchers to buy specified nutritious foods including iron-fortified formula, juice and cereal for infants under one year of age; milk, cheese, eggs, juice, cereal and beans or peanut butter for women and children. Kanaley said pregnant women and infants under one year of age are the “highest risk” population. The county’s present caseload is abodNjalf children and half pregnant women, but a very small number of infants, she said. THREE STORES now participate in the program: Shop Rites at Rio Grande and Somers Point, and Shop ’n Bag at North Cape May. “A lot of people can’t get to these stores,” she said, “and W.I.C. at statelevel is being asked to okay more Stores." W.I.C. has been a national program since 1974, Kanaley said, in the county since last year, and went full-time in September. Since then, its Cape May County caseload has increased by about 275, to 475, she said. The new outreach clinics, open twice monthly, are at the Middle Township Community Center, Whitesboro; Cape Human Resources Center, Wildwood; Resource Center, Ocean City; Social Services Building, Rio Grande; Civic Center, Cape May; Community Center, Sea Isle City; Lower Township Recreation Center, Villas; and Community Center, Woodbine. For further information, call W.I.C. at 465-3181, extension 269.