x^L - v CAPE MAY COUNTY ^ S ' ' Z — — f 1

Vol. 20 No. 25 1983 S«owo«t Corp. AH rlgM» ttwvij. |line 20, 1984 I

DON'T DO IT. ERNIE! — That's just a water hose Ernie Marcacci of Sea Isle City is using to cool off after the Cape May Point 5-Mile Run last Saturday. Other pictures inside

Stay Qut of Ocean City County 'Fleet' Loses Two

COURT HOUSE - Cape May County last more than sand in that March 29 flood. Two county cars parked in Ocean City also were totaled. Freeholders last week passed resolu tions settling with insurance companies for claims on: • A 1980 Chevrolet Camaro assigned to the Prosecutor's Office and worth $8,241.50. • A 1976 Plymouth Valiant assigned to the Engineer's Office and worth $1,550.25 Chief of county detectives William B Matthews Sr. said the Camaro was assign ed to a member of the supersecret "strike force" that focuses on illegal narcotics h

y Matthews pointed out that task force I members are "on call 24 hours a day" and y frequently working under cover. Engineer James Mott of the Public i- Works Department said he had a county g car parked in front of his 29th Street home because he was due to drive to a bridge in o spection course in Trenton the next day "I guess the point is you should keep 0 your vehicles out of Ocean City at high , tide." cracked Freeholder William E 1 Sturm Jr last week i- "That's what Jimmy Mott did, replied e Freeholder James S Kilpatrick Jr He took home a county vehicle '

News~~^ Digest Spttones Recount June 28 TUCKAHOE — Superior Court Assignment Judge Philip A. Gruccio will begin the recount of Upper Township s _ GOP primary for a contested committee / \. seat June 28. Regular Republican challenger George Betts chalked up a 883-875-vote lead on the voting machines June 5, but maverick incumbent Leonard Migiiaccio tied the tally at 894 votes when absentee ballots were counted. Independent Republican Bruno Trapeano finished third with 428 votes, but collected enough Democratic write-in votes to run as that party's candidate this fall. r Super (Raise ERMA — Lower Cape May Regional Board of Education unanimously approved a new contract for Supt. Ephraim R. Keller last week. He'll receive a $6,000 raise, from $44,000-$50,000, this year and another $4,000 next year when he's expected to retire. This week, board members interviewed candidates for principal of the district high school. Principal Alan G. Beattie received board approval recently (Page 51 Please)

Recreational Water:- Mostly Clean

By JOE ZELNIK • CREST HAVEN — "A real nice clean week." That's the way Clay Sutton, environmental program administrator with the county Health Department, described results from about 110 samples taken last week of ocean waters and back bay recreational waters. The water is tested for fecal coliform bacteria, an indicator of human sewage pollution. In this second week of testing, two communities had ocean water trouble spots Wildwood had a 926 MPN (most probable number) reading at Schellenger and

Ocean avenues. The state sets a maximum of 50 MPN for i ocean waters and Sutton said the 926 was "real high, but I have no theory; hopefully it's nothing." Also in ocean water testing. Lower Township had a 110 off Cox Hall Creek, and a 94 off Ferry Road. Cox Hall Creek empI ties the township's sewage plant effluent and is the subject of a special survey, aci cording to Sutton. ! TWO COMMUNITIES also had back bay problems, where the state sets a maximum of 200 MPN I Cape May had a 1600 off, the fishing ; docks west of Two Mile Beach. 1 And Avalon, whose back bay was closed

from 31st to 40th streets last summer because of a high fecal coliform count, had a 926 southwest of the sewage plant outfall location and a 240 opposite 78th Street. For the second consecutive week, the department failed to sample 17 sites in Ocean City's backbays. These samples were taken June 12 and 13 It takes four days to complete lab analysis; then results are sent to the state Department of Environmental Portection (DEPi and to the local municipality The Herald and Lantern this week begins publishing a chart listing the fecal coliform bacteria count for each of the 37 ocean water and 90 back bay recreational water locations

Drinking Water: Still Some Sodium

CREST HAVEN — Cape May's drinking water continues to exceed the state's recommended maximum level for sodium (salt), according to the latest tests released by the county Health Department this week. Isolated «high readings also occurred in Avalon arid Stone Harbor. The other barrier islands had no sodium problems either in municipal wells or distribution systems. • The state maximum is 50 mg/l (milligrams per liter) and the federal

recommendation for persons on salt restricted diets is 20 mg/ 1 Samples taken by the county Health Department May 15 and 17 showed two of Cape May's three wells tested at 63.7 and 61.4; thathird well was 28.7. Four samples taken at faucets in Cape May had readings of 53.7, 56.3, 58 and 59 A Cape May Point water distribution sample had a reading of 60.3. The Point gets its water from Cape May And wells at the Coast Guard base in Cape May tested at 48.8 and 49.6.

Cape May City Manager Fred Coldren pointed out that the city hasn't used well No. 1, jvhich tested at 63.7. "for years ex cept in an emergency "We're conceded about the problem, said Coldren, "and are pursuing a whole range of options." Those "options," he said include negotiations for a new well site The Herald and Lantern previously reported that the city also is talking to off shore water suppliers. Previous attempts to negotiate z well (Page 18 Please)

Gnats Followed by Gre&nheads Followed by...

DIAS CREEK — Here's the '84 bug prognosis based on an exclusive three-minute telephone interview with Judy Hansen, superintendent ofQtye county Mosquito Commission. The mosquitoes aren't bad yet, but it has the "potential" of a bad season because of the abundance of rain followed by drying periods, ideal for breeding. Cape May Point, West Cape May and

Dennis Township^^ha^e problem areas right now. THOSE GNATS that are driving you nuts should be gone in about a week. They usually disappear by the end of June, Hansen said. And then? "They'll be replaced by the greenhead flies in July," said Hansen in a tone of voice that almost sounded pleased

And after they buzz off at the end of July? AUGUST IS USUALLY the worst mos quito month," said Hansen, clearly trying hard to contain a belly laugh. The commission's year-round staff of 18 is expanded to 30 for the summer Call in with your mosquito complaints at 465-9038. The gnats and greenheads are your own problem.

7 Schools Contain Asbestos By E. J. Dl'FFY Seven public school buildings in five Cape May County districts contain cancer causing asbestos insulation Three districts — Lower Township. Wildwood and Ocean City — plan to remove it. Two — North Wildwood and Middle Township — don't None, however, is required to do so by local, state or federal laws But the state Assembly has passed and sent to the Senate a bill (AB 622) that would provide $40 million for school asbestos removal "Hopefully, this legislation, which .will retroactively reimburse us. will go through." said Arthur Motz, superintendent of Wildwood schools "It looks pretty positive " The measure passed the Assembly 69-0 on April 30 State senators are expected to consider the bill next Monday or Thursday That'll be none too soon for Motz and other local school officials faced with asbestos problems. WILDWOOD SCHOOL officials paid $3,500 to remove some of the asbestos in two schools during the winter, but plan to shell out another $30,000 to clear Glenwood Avenue 'elementary and Wildwood High schools of the material this summer, Motz noted Edward J Campbell, superintendent of the Lower Township district's three elementary schools, said that no deteriorating asbestos was found in them (Page 51 Please)

r inside. VIDEO EYE; From Bruce Lee to Space Hunter Page 40 SOUNDS: From rock to blues Page 30 DIET DO's: And Dont s Page 12 DINING and Entertainment (if you're not dieting). Page 25 LOCAL swimsuit fashions Page 23 MONEY MARKET roundup Page 59 EVERYTHING you wanted to know I about the %th Street revitalization I and never dared to ask Page 18 I