Herald & Lantern 8 August '84 55 - ncidiu at Ldiuciu o nugu»i oh

MUA Picks Six (From Page 1) tinued, might make the incineration issue "more objective." The MUA and township have "kind of gotten into a . . . contest" over Lower's bid to operate its own incinerator, O'Neill observed. "I was told absolutely, unequivocally 'No,' " Lower's Mayor Robert Fothergill complained, referring to the MUA response to township plans last week. "I can assure you," he added, "if they're trying to (reactivate) the advisory council, they're trying to squelch us." Lower Township commissioned Sanborn-Wielenga Associates to study disposal alternatives last summer ^and, last fall, the Michigan firm recommended the township build and operate a waste-to-energy incinerator. The preferred site, said the consultants, was HarbisonWalker's closed magnesite plant. Sunset Beach. THE MUA COMMISSIONED a feasibility study of that 123-acre site in December. Its consultants, Sanders & Thomas Inc., reported in February that converting the facility would be too expensive; but they studied a much larger operation than that proposed by Sanborn-Wielenga. Nevertheless, the magnesite plant is one of six locations under consideration by the MUA as a possible incinerator site, noted O'Neill. The others are the MUA's new trash transfer station in Burleigh, the county's Crest Haven complex, the new county landfill in Woodbine, the county airport in Erma and the U.S. Coast Guard base in Cape May. "These sites, with the exception of the landfill, will be considered. . he added, noting that the landfill is already marked as the prime incinerator location. Several smaller incinerators could be built at the other sites, O'Neill continued, but the final number of locations has not been established and the list is not considered exclusive. "SITING IN THE CAPE MAYS is going to be a challenging problem," O'Neill predicted, "because the streets are congested in the summer time and the Coast Guard base is so remote." The base, Crest Haven complex and the Woodbine State School, as examples, could be supplied with steam power, generated by incinerators nearby, O'Neill observed. "Each one (site) has potential and limitations that have to be explored," he said, (but) these sites seem to make sense." O'Neill called positive" Lower Township's enthusiasm to locate an incinerator inside the municipality. Statewide, that's rare, he said. "We acknowledge that and we don't want to ignore that," he stressed, adding that the MUA still doesn't want "to leap into anything" that requires a "coujitywide perspective" like incineration. The MUA official has insisted that the authority holds an exclusive franchise on waste disposal in the county which excludes Lower from the incinerator business. "We inadvertently put too much body English on the matter," O'Neill reflected. "(But) we really can't tailor what we do there (in incineration) to the needs and < desires of one community no matter how well-intentioned it might be." MUA OFFICIALS ARE WILLING to swap engineering information with Lower, said O'Neill, "but, in the final analysis, this has to be a countywide effort." "We came out of their meeting feeling that^ the township was at least a year ahead, if not more so, than they were," Fothergill griped, referring to the township's meeting with MUA officials last week. "I walked away talking to myself," he said. "I was never so disgusted in my life. I wound up talking to the wall. "They (MUA officials) were there strictly to get our ideas down on paper," the mayor added. According to Fothergill, the townshipproposed incinerator at Harbison-Walker "allows us to preserve 123 acres of prime ground. ' ' He envisions an incinerator plant there that would dispose of local trash, power adjacent industries with steam, provide for recreation and scientific research uses as well as creating jobs and taxratable businesses. "THE TRASH BURNING IS so insignificant," Fothergill maintained. "It just allows us to secure the site and allows us to pay for it." This time last year, Lqwer paid $4-$5 a ton to dump its 50-75 daily tons of trash at Smith's landfill in the township near West Cape May, he noted. When Smith's closed, the township trucked its trash £o Mar-Tee landfill in Middle Township at twice the cost. Mar-Tee closed when the county's Wood-

bine landfill opened in mid-May with $26 a ton tipping fees. Now the township is paying $1,400 a day to dump its trash there, the mayor estimated. "We were told flat out. . that the rate's going to go up the first of next year," Fothergill continued, recalling that San-born-Wielenga had been commissioned to study Lower's trash disposal choices based on the projected tipping fee increases then. More than 200 tons of trash has been diverted from the landfill since November through voluntary recycling of glass, paper and aluminum in Lower, the mayor stressed. A second recycling bus was put into service last month. MEANWHILE, FOTHERGILL pointed out, the MUA abandoned its recycling program and has yet to produce an incineration plan as thorough as Lower's. He suggested last fall that the MUA construct an incinerator at Crest Haven instead of building a trash-transfer station in Burleigh, he said. An MUA engineer admitted, Fotherfill added, that the authority guessed about the sizes needed for its landfill and the transfer station. "To hear (him) say they had guessed at these facilities, to me it was mind-boggling," the mayor continued. He's looking for a way around the MUA's trash disposal monopoly because the "township has a track record" in that field, he argued, that the MUA could capitalize upon. If the township could operate a waste-to-energy incinerator at the Sunset Beach magnesite plant, it could burn sludge from the nearby MUA sewage treatment facility, supply steam to power it and truck incinerator ash to the landfill for cover material. "We can be the Guinea Pig," suggested Fothergill, again offering to take the first step toward a local incinerator. "They (MUA officials) can come out smelling like tf rose," he said. "If it doesn't work, they comd say We told you so.' "

County Earns $1 Million : —

(From Page 1) amount coming in from various sources ( taxes, grants, etc. ) and how much will be - needed to pay bills, payroll, etc. Each Monday, more often if necessary. Eaves tells Millar how much is available to invest and for how long. The longer the investment nowadays, the higher the interest rate. MILLAR CALLS five banks and two savings and loans, all with offices in the county. The one paying the highest interest rate gets the money. Lately, the savings and loans — Collective Federal and Security — have been getting most of the county's investments. The banks include First Jersey, First National Bank of Tom's River, Heritage Bank, Marine National Bank, and First National State Bank of South Jersey. "For the last year or so," said Mataluc ci, "flksavings and loans are the best. It used tow the banks, but they don't want it anymore." "They don't need it," said Eaves. V' BUT COLLECTIVE Federal and Security actively compete for the investments. "They call us back to ask what rate we got from the other," said Millar. "It could be a factor next time." > Double-digit interest rates the last five months have helped put the county well ahead of what it expected to earn in interest this year. The 1984 budget anticipated $961,501 from interest and the county already is almost $100.0 ahead of the amount projected from the first seven months of the year.

Last year the county budget anticipated interest of $848,000 and took in $971,439 ON MONDAY. July 30, the county had $600,000 in the general fund to invest for 63 days. It got 11.5 percent interest froth Security. The following day it had $200,000 in Trust Funds money To invest for 92 days. It got 11.87 percent from Collective The highest rate so far this year was 11.97 percent in June Earnings so far this year come to $532,827 ("and five cents," added Millar) compared to $438,369 this time last year THAT'S GOOD NEWS for the taxpayers, but also a little embarrassing for Mataluc ci. He's county Republican chairman and the GOP keeps insisting that high interest rates are a Democratic problem it solved. But the 13-week U.S. Treasury Bills averaged 10.4 percent July 30, the highest rate since July 26, 1982. "The more we can take «n, it helps the (county) taxpayer^," said Mataiucci "But it sure can screw up business." High interest rates also can affect tne county when it takes off its investor's hat and puts on its borrower's hat, which it will be doing this fall when it goes for bond anticipation tfotes for a $15 5-milIion construction project. The county got a 6.45 percent rate the last time it borrowed — $1.7 million in August of 1983. That rate also could be in the double-digits this fall.

Job Program Lacks Kids — —

( From Page 1 ) ject to the Job Training and Placement Division of Cape Human Resources, the county's community action agency That 13-employe division was wiped out by federal budget cuts last winter and, this year, the Employment Service took the task of certifying eligibility of applicants "THAT MADE FOR more complications," said Maene. "It used to be onestop; now it's two separate agencies. Wc lose people trying to get them through two agencies. Intake becomes complicated and unwieldy when you're trying to deal witfi the bureaucracies of two separate agencies." That problem will be solved. The state a has agreed JTPS can do the certification next year. Maene welcomes the responsibility, but „ wonders who'll pay for it. Jhe reduction in ( permissable administrative costs was \ really a 32 percent cut that left the agency "seriously understaffed," she said. "We don't have enough staff ; that's why things don't happen immediately," she said. THE JTPA STAFF, in fact, is the same as last year, but the additional programs, such as taking over SYETP from Cape Human Resources, caused the problem. Despite all this, Maene said, the state Labor Department monitored the program last week and "said we were well organized and doing very well." There is no private sector portion of the program this year, an idea that flopped last year. Instead, all jobs are at

municipal or nonprofit agencies. "We didn't even think about the private sector this year," said Maene. "There wasn't enough staff Besides, that is more for the inner city where they have a surplus of kids." This year's recruitment of participants started in the spring with visits to high school guidance departments, followed by letters over the signatures of Freeholders Anthony T. Catanoso and Gerald M. Thornton given out with free cheese and welfare checks. The "Dear Resident" letters said per sons interested .n work experience, on-the- * yM training, classroom 'training or the summer jobs program should call the JTPA offic^. But enrollment lagged QUALIFY for the program, one must be aged 14 to 21 and economically disad- \ vantaged. For a family of four, for exam- | pie, maximum annual income is $10,930. *4tfost of the remaining slots are in the Whdwoods, Sea Isle City cm- the Woodbine State School, Maene said. Most of the summer jobs are for maintenance aides, custodial aides, clerical aides, etc., but there are also some special programs such as one in Cape May for handicapped youths. The main idea is to give work experience and job-seeking skills to young people who've never worked before, Maene said. The side benefits include some income for back-to-school, etc., and some help for hard-pressed government and nonprofit agencies.

News Digest iFfrom Page I) Township should take over the ailing utility and the state should collect thousands of dollar^ in fines from the municipality, according 'o The Strafhmere Improvement Association in a suit filed in Superior Court, Trenton last week The association's 200 members voted then to hire Wildwood lawyer Robert Fineberg as its attorney in the action to force repairs of the utility. Arrested for Assault AVALON — James Stokes III, 26, of Gladwyn, Pa., was released on his own recognizance after resort police arrested him Sunday for burglarizing an Ocean Drive apartment Saturday morning and sexually assaulting a Pennsylvania woman, 24. borough police reported

Cyclist Charged ** j OCEAN CITY - Richard Carabba, 19. of Deptford was charged by resort police Friday with driving his bicycle while drunk. Police watched him swerving on the bike while riding it along West Avenue, they reported Since bicycles are regarded as motor vehicles in New Jersey, Carabba faces the same penalties if convicted as he would while operating an automobile under the influence Cyclist Dies ANGLESEA — Daniel Tourish. 17, of Chadds Ford, Pa., was pronounced dead at the scene of a crash between his bicycle and a car on Ocean Drive, just east of here last week Tourish s bike swerved into the path of an approaching car driven by Thomas Stanley. 23. of Berwyn, Pa., just before midnight July 31 according to police reports Stanley's passenger. Daniel Smith. 22 of Lancaster, Pa., was 'treated for minor injuries and released, police said.

\ Jailed for Assault WILDWOOD CREST - Clarence Moore, 35, of Iselin Road. Town Bank, was being held in county jail on $51,000 bail Sunday after his arrest by resort police for the attempted assault of a Philadelphia woman, 18. Police arrested Moore three hours after he allegedly attacked the woman early Sunday morning on West Morning Glory Road. It was the third similar incident since May here and the fourth sexual assault reported in the Wildwoods.