22 Herald & Lantern 23 January '85

News Digest ( From Page 1 > " Lantern "the affair is simply an internal dispute developing out of some tough contract negotiations." He said it should be resolved "at the conference table, not in the newspapers." In Other Words... CAPE MAY — Freeholder Ralph Evans' ears have been burning ever since last week s Herald-Lantern reported he "balked at the county taking any responsibility for draining county roads." That statement was in a story about Cape May drainage problems and was meant to refer only to those streets in Cape May where. Evans feels, developers and the city should share some responsibility. TV xrr Not TV ? COURT HOUSE - A flap is stirring between Republican Edward Rosenberg and Democrat Charles Leusner who are expected to vie in a forthcoming election for Leusner s Middle Township Committee seat. Rosenberg says Leusner pressured Group W in Wildwood to drop Rosenberg as a no-pay basketball commentator Leusner says he only inquired about company policy regarding political candidates Group W dropped Rosen berg, saying Leusner exerted no presure; it just didn't want to be aligned with any candidate Wild wood's Budget WILDWOOD - It will cost $9 4 million to run the city in 1985 but the tax rate will stay at $11.54 for every $1,000 of assessed valuation, according to a new budget given to city council last week by Mayor Victor Di Sylvester. The budget is $100,000 higher than last year's However, the city has been stepping up its efforts to*collect delinquent taxes, and that's where the extra revenue is coming from, the mayor said * Ocean City Taxes OCEAN CITY — The school tax will i main at $4 20 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, but the city tax rate may go % up 75 cents to $5.21. according to proposed budgets unveiled last week The school board plans to spend $1.2 million more than last year, and the city $1.3 million It will cost $11.3 million to run three schools, and $15 million to run the city A public hearing on the school budget will be held March 13 at 7 p.m. in the primary school. City council, still reviewing its budget, will introduce a final version early in February Ml .4 Job on Hold SWAINTON — Attorney John Mead may have to wait another eight months before the county Municipal Utilities /)®thonty decides to let him return to his old job as MUA legal counsel. Mead has been on leave of absence since first being charged, then cleared, of conspiracy in connection with a bribery scandal But the MUA wants to keep him on hold until the state concludes its investigation of alleged kickbacks paid by contractors to former MUA chairman John Vinci & Indicted in Murder OCEAN CITY — Murder suspect Galvanus Smart-El. 47. also known as Gerald Bonds, was indicted last week in the Nov 4 stabbing death of I^ucy Tier nan at the woman's Haven Avenue, home. He is befeg held in the county jail in lieu of $250,000 bail, pending trial. Capping the Cents WILDWOOD — The city plans to spend $300,000 this year to fix up its sanitarysewer system, mostly on capping curbside vents to prevent sea and rainwater from washing into the lines. The work should cut down on bills from the county Municipal Utilities Authority for treating city sewage The city also wants to spend $250,000 on a new roof for city hall and other building repairs A Penny Here WILDWOOD — An extra water charge

of one cent per 1,000 gallons used is being passed on to the city's water customers to pay for state testing services. That translates to somewhere between 30 cents and a dollar more each year for il most customers. Annual bills started going out recently and some taxpayers are 1 steamed about where their pennies are J going Keeping it Warm WILDWOOD — Retiree John C. Harden who served as Mayor Victor Di Sylvester's campaign manager, was named to till Di Sylvester's old seat on , city council last Wednesday The job was awarded to Harden out of 14 persons who applied. But. come next May. it will be up for grabs again, along with two other council seats, in municipal elections. 8 Homes Looted WILDWOOD CREST — Burglars broke into eight homes while their owners were away during the holidays and helped themselves to an assortment of cash, jewelry, cameras. TV sets, video recorders, stereos and clothes, police said The thieves got in through windows and back doors The loss at one home was placed at $5,000 Fire Guts House SEA ISLE — A portable heater may have caused a fire .which drove a family from its beach house at 45th Street, caus1 ing extensive damage to the three-story wood structure last week. Firemen from Sea Isle and Avalon were hampered by freezing temperatures and high winds One member of the family. Richard A Magee. was treated for a burned hand. His wife. Catherine, a secretary at St Joseph's grade school, and their daughter, Jfennie. who teaches kindergarten there, escaped injury. Family Rebuilding ERMA — A faulty wood-burning stove was suspected of setting fire to a house at Route 9 and Weeks Landing Road, sending a family of eight fleeing in nightclothes last Wednesday. Firemen from Erma. Rio Grande and Town Bank fought the blaze for five hours in 20-degree cold and high winds, while a propane tank helped fuel the flames The Cape May Marlin and Tuna Club is collecting donations for John and Gerrie Knecht and their six children, who plan to rebuild the house. Suicide Attempt VILLAS — Ricky J. Sergeant. 27. <no current address > . was listed in serious but stable condition after trying to hang himself with a belt on the bars of Lower Township's lock-up Saturday. Chief Robert M Denny reported yesterday Ar rested on a bench warrant in Bayside Village, here. Sergeant was wanted for failing to carry out the terms of his senttnce for a traffic-related offense. Denny explained. The prisioner was alone in the cell only five minutes, said the chief, while awaiting transport to the county jail.

- Water in 5 Weeks?

( From Page 1) (0 portion of the eastern section of Atlantic between Route 9 and the parkway. Homes on the east side of the parkway ; would be in phase two, Alexis said, and the water is negotiated with parkway officials on tunneling beneath it. In the meantime, the township is supplying 17Vgallon drums of water to 19 /residents concerned about their water. Seven have been told they have dangerous contamination, mostly trichloroethene (TCE), a carcinogen. The seven were identified by red pins on ; the map at last Thursday's Health Board ) meeting; Yellow pins marked other sites with "moderate contamination." And green marked "negative." "HOW LONG before it hurts us?" asked one woman. ^"VVlt's a known carcinogen," said countyHealth Officer Louis J. Lamanna "It depends on the individual, the levels of ex-

posure. It can have adverse effects on the vital organs." "When are we going to get city water?" asked Yasmine Chaudhry, of 113 E. Pacific Ave., the first site tested. "We're living with this water and it's dangerous." "Get the pipeline started down the street as quickly as possible," urged DeVico. The audience applauded.. Earlier estimates for East Pacific and Atlantic said that the project will cost about $85,000. But the township has since decided it will do the street patchup to save costs. BARBARA BEITEL. former township grants coordinator who resigned last November, told the audience the township has $80,000 "in HUD (Housing and Uroan Development ) money that can be transferred to Upalth and Safety in one week." Alexis told the Herald-Lantern Monday \ that this money has not been received yet \ and "is not transferable to the water pro- \ % ject. We have another commitment to * build 10 low-rent housing units with the • funds," he said. Alexis said he is hoping for a low-interest loan from the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Eventually, homeowners with contaminated water should be able to collect the full cost of the water line from the state Spill Compensation Fund. But others connected who turn out not to have contaminated water could end up paying an assessment, Alexis said. DR. SHAH CHAUDHRY said he was dissatisfied with his water in 1983, had a conditioner installed, finally asked the county to test it and "it took them six months or more. In May ( 1984) they told us we should not drink the water. We had alreadystarted drinking bottled water." But Chaudhry's neighbors weren't notified until Christmas Eve. "It's an emergency." said Chaudhry "We are hostage to these things. You don't know how it works without water. We can't use the faucet. We have to find a place to take a shower The way we're living is not 'how to live. Make it an emergency. Do something." "There's no way to run temporary water because of freezing," said Alexis. People lived out of drums for a year in Galloway Township. It won't happen here." "Don't rest until you're on city water," urged Edmund Webb, whose well also is contaminated. "No one seems adverse to it Let's go as quickly as possible. I'm tired of running to the school every morning to take a shower "

Hacienda ( From Page 1 ) be located within the recreational vehicle areas and along the entry road near Delsea Drive. Tent sites would be located in a wooded area. A 14-acre area would be reserved for growing nursery stock, to compromise with the farmland conservation requirements. BESIDES BEING twice rejected, the campground owner was also rejected in 1979 when he sought to add more sites. The state said no, because of the farmland conservation restriction. "We've been five years struggling with this thing," Pearson told the hearing officer. "There's so much farmland around us now that's not being farmed.'' John Hoff, a witness for the campground owner, said he had owned and farmed ground near the campground since 1946. "You won't get rich farming that ground." Hoff said. "It has nematodes and Johnson grass. " Nematodes are thread-like roundworms that attack roots. DONALD BIEHN, an environmental design consultant from Lafayette Hill. Pa., noted that 40 percent of the soil in Cape May County is classed as farmland conservation, but that, "we have soils that are not prime agricultural soils. " The campground is bounded on the north by a wooded tract, on the south byfarmland and on the east by Delsea Drive which has farmland on the other side of the road Extensive wetlands lie to the west of the campground. { "We're just not able to make any money with this campground." Pearson added "We just about break even. My wife and me, we're lucky if we make $2,000 bucks in 0 a good year." ( Under state law. campgrounds are c regarded as housing developments. Ad- p ding 25 or more sites in coastal areas re- s quires a DEP permit as spelled out under n the New Jersey Coastal Area Facility n Review Act < CAFRA ) . s Epstein, the hearing review officer, said c he would forward a report t^his superiors.

Culinary Program Popular

COURT HOUSE - A new program called CulinaryArts has proven popular with students at the vocational Career Center. This course is a revised version of the former Foods Occupations program. It provides greater emphasis on preparation of food in restaurant-type settings and still includes the preparation of meals for the building's cafeteria. Culinary arts students learn all aspects of food preparation in the court of preparing both student lunches and meals for the many groups that meet at the school. In addition, the program includes demonstrations by Vincent Wiernicki, instructor/chef, for items that are not routinely prepared. WIERNICKI IS a chef

with 35 years of food service experience in restaurants all over the country. He attended Glassboro State College and has been an instructor at the County Vocational Schools in the foods area for 14 years. "We try to prepare students with the skills and knowledge they will need to get good jobs in restaurants." he stated. "With the skills our students have when they complete our program, they may start at entrylevel positions but we find that many rise quickly to more responsible positions because of their training." Many of the students in the program are working or have worked in food service establishments. The culinary arts program is open to all county

citizens and includes both high school students and ' adults. It takes one year to complete full-time, and two years for high school students, who attend for one-half of each school day. to complete. For further information, contact Mr. Ostrowski at 465-2161. Zinkus Sent To Chanute ERMA — Airman Robert J. Zinkus, son of retired Air Force Tech. Sgt. Ronald J. Zinkus of 540 Seashore Rd. and Naomi J. Zinkus of S Honolulu, has been assigned to Chanute Air Force Base, I1L, after completing Air Force basic training. He is a 1984 graduate of Lower Cape May Regional High School.

County Budget ( From Page 1 > of freeholders, telephone operations, countreasurer, legal costs, county adjuster, clerk of the board, personnel department, purchasing department, county clerk, prosecutor. facilities and services department. industrial and economic development department, and employe group inwhich Sturm said, is "up considerably." Every government classification except "unclassified" shows an increase. That * ralMnrv ic rl/m-n in z t

category is percent, $870,293 to $779,097. but it's because some of its operations were transferred to other classifications. Sturm said. OTHER CLASSIFIC ATIONS, in desceni ding order of percantage increase: Education, up $657,476. or 19.4 percent, from $3.4 million to $4 million. That item has been burgeoning in recent years, largely because of the increased cost of community college chargebacks. It also includes the vo-tech and special services schools. Roads and Bridges: up $358,804, or 16.2 percent, from $2.2 million to $2.6 million. ' Recreation: up $871,200. or 13.4 percent from $650,366 to $737,486. This is largely parks and includes an estimated $85,000 to run Historic Cold Spring Village, donated to the county last month That includes $50,000 for wages and $35,000 for operating expenses. Sturm said, which could be matched by revenue. Regulation (the sheriff, board of taxation, weights and measures, etc.): up $153,867, or 12.9 percent, from $1.2 million to $1.3 million. Judiciary: up $168,468. or 9.5 percent, from $1.8 million to $1.9 million. Health and Welfare: up $685,958, or 8.1 percent, from $8.5 million to $9.2 million. Correctional (the prison): up $112 236 from $1,794,131 to $1,836,367.