CAPE MAY COUNTY HERALD

Vol. 21 No. 101895 Seawave Corp. All rights reserved. March 6, 1985

In Court House Public Water: 2 Weeks?

COURT HOUSE — The New Jersey Water Company could start laying lines for public water on Atlantic and Pacific a venues next week, according to Township Committeeman James Alexis Seven property owners in the area have been told their water is contaminated by

toxic chemicals and another seven have been told they have "trace amounts." The township continues to supply free barrels of water to a total of 22 homes. Alexis said He said phase one of the project would take about a week That includes Pacific Avenue from Route 9 to the Parkway, including Valley Road, north on a paper Third Street to Atlantic, and west 335 feet on Atlantic. THE WATER COMPANY has been waiting for a township bond ordinance borrowing $60,000 to take effect That happens next Tuesday, March 12. It's been estimated the first phase — about 2,200 feet — will cost about $43,000 The township has set aside another $11,000 to help any individuals who can't afford a ( Page 20 Please )

RED ZINGER - Hidden inside that fur coat is a red Persian named Cozmo's Red Zinger who competed in the William Penn Cat Club Show at the Wildwood Convention Hall last weekend. More funny names on page 12.

The News Digest Week's Top Stories Last Minute Changes TRENTON — Special police hired by resorts would require less psychological testing than regular police and would be allowed to wear regular police uniforms if a bill, approved by a state Senate committee last week, is also approved by the state Assembly and signed by Gov. Thomas Kean In general, that bill tightens requirements for hiring and training special police, but last minute changes, lightening rules in resorts, resulted from their officials' objections Only $25,000 OCEAN CITY — Councilman William Meis proposed $423,024 in cute to $15 million in projected 1985 operating expenses, arguing that $87,824 could be saved by simply limiting city departments to their 1984 expenditures But. after a meeting with department heads last week, council decided Meis' proposed cute were not practical Council only agreed to trim $25,000 from the budget. It faces final action after a 7:30 p.m. public hearing March 14 Not Far Enough? OCEAN CITY — City council voted 4-1 last week to adopt a new zoning ordinance before a court -ordered deadline Four years in the making, the ordinance reduces the maximum allowable housing density by 21.3 percent, from a possible 30,500 dwelling unite to roughly 24,050. Councilwoman Jeanne Clunn voted against the measure. She said it's restrictions on development didn't go far enough. (Page 12 Please)

Doris Ward ROOM FOR MORE — Bicycle rack in front of the County Library Office Building grips one lone bike and leaves plenty of room for employes who want to pedal to work.

Older Than They Have to Be County Asked to Aid Employe Health

By JOE ZELNIK Call Andy Melchiorre a visionary He sees county employes giving up smoking, riding bicycles to work and showering there, lunching on health foods and fruit juices instead of cheesecakes and soda It's all part of a "health promotion" proposal from the county Health Department to the Board of Freeholders It's the result of a year long study aimed at determining health risks to the employes

BASED ON questionnaires from 291 (of about 1,100) employes, it was found that: Thirty-three percent smoke Thirty percent are obese (defined as more than 120 percent of the ideal body weight ) Sixty three percent engage in little or no exercise (These are factors in cardiovasrular disease, a focal point for the proposed program.) About 18 percent use alcohol, but that figure is suspect since 30 percent didn't answer the question

Freeholders Boost Budget; Delay Adoption to March 12

COURT HOUSE - Freeholders last week postponed adoption of their 1985 budget until 8 p m March 12 in order to add projects totaling another $356,895 That raises the budget to $41,973,385, a $5.3 million (14 percent ) increase over last year But the tax increase of nine tenths of one cent per $100 of assessed valuation — to a rate of 41.6 cents per $100 of assessed valuation — remains the same That's because most of the additional projects will be paid from the record 1984 surplus of $6.4 million "We went back to the well,'' commented

Freeholder William E. Sturm Jr., director of Revenue and Finance ONLY TWO PERSONS commented on the proposed budget at the Feb 26 public hearing Environmentalist Ruth Fisher of South Dennis observed that the Health Depart ment was allocated $1.1 million, but she found it "difficult to get comment from the Health Department on anything I don't think that It is doing an awfully good job of informing the public of the dangers that are around here " (Page 20 Please)

And 93 percent did not regularly use their seatbelts. a failing that presumably was changed by the state's mandatory seatbelt law that took effect March 1. IN ADDITION, the study found that 54 percent of county employes did not know their blood pressure and 99 percent did not know their cholesterol level Seventeen percent of the females have not had a pap test in at least three years, and 75 percent rarely or never perform a self-breast exam The employes who participated in the survey got back a computer printout "Health Risk Appraisal" that rated their "chances of dying" from various causes based on comparing the individual's lifestyle with others of his race and sex Perhaps of most interest were two numbers the individual's "appraised" age and his "achievable" age The survey found that 44 percent of the employes were at least three years older than they have to be, in terms of health factors "That opened a lot of people's eyes.'* said Melchiorre "It's one thing for someone to say. 'you smoke or eat too much.' but people put more credence in it when it comes from a computer." ITS MELCHIORRE'S position that the cost of an employe health promotion program could be recouped if employes took less sick days and insurance premiums dropped Those costs have been increasing rapidly and the county's 1985 budget allocates more than $3 million for all insurance (Page 20 Please)

County Due For Parity On PIC By JOE ZELNIK COURT HOUSE - Cape May County will gain parity with Atlantic County on their joint Private industry Council (PIC) board of directors Initially, at least, that will mean 11 more Cape May County representatives added to a board currently made up of 22 from Atlantic County and 11 from Cape May County The accord comes after several months of private negotiations among the two counties and the state The county last Nov 27 hired Wildwood attorney Louis F. Horns tine at $85 an hour to represent it in those negotiations (Hornstine was hired effective Feb 1 to handle all the county's litigation at $45,000 a year ) The freeholders met with Hornstine. PIC board members and Nan Mavromates. the county's PIC administrator, in a closed session Dec 10 The secrecy of that meeting was justified under the state Open Public Meetings Act. according to the freeholders, because its discussion Included "... possible legal action to be taken .." The legal action was never necessary as the two counties came to agreement "WE HAVE REACHED an accommoda tion. "said Freeholder James S Kilpatrick Jr Monday "Everybody is happy How we arrived there is somewhat immaterial " The two counties were forcibly merged in the fall of 1983 to administer the federal Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) which replaced the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) program The merger was opposed by both coun ties, but ordered by Gov Thomas H Kean to meet a requirement for a 200,000(Page 20 Please)

-inside... Still congested? Why bother? Page 38 Diet Not Working? Try a trash bag Joyride III, Page 39