CAPE MAY COUNTY COUNTY

Vol. 21 NO. 15 1985 Seawave corp. All rights reserved.

April 10, 1985

Sodium Scan Sheet Next Step CREST HAVEN — Thirteen months ago. the county Health Department alerted physicians that most of the barrier island communities had excessive sodium (salt) in their drinking water. Many of those test results were later found to be erroneous, and the reason never explained But they nevertheless marked the beginning of a year-long county program of testing municipal wells and distribution systems (faucets in private homes). Calling salt water intrusion "the most critical (drinking water) problem" in the county, officials switched from periodic testing for chloride to monthly testing for sodium. The relationship between the two is nebulous. RESULTS CONFIRMED a pattern of higher-than-recommended levels of sodium in the drinking water in Cape May and Stone Harbor, borderline numbers in Avalon. and some surprisingly high numbers in one mainland well — the New Jersey Water Co. well in Court House, and two sample faucets in Court House. That testing program has trickled to a halt with the release this week of the most recent test results from samples taken in February. Now a quarterly program will begin next month, according to Clay C. Sutton Jr.. county environmental program administrator. In the meantime, 12 months of numbers are being analyzed by a computer which will print a "scan sheet" for each municipality. Those findings will be put in summary form, along with proposals from the county. AT THE SAME TIME that Health employes took sodium samples. Planning workers assisted in order to get chloride results, which will be the source of that department's recommendations "Health looks at sodium as a public health concern," explained county Planning Director Elwood Jarmer. "Our office is more concerned with chlorides as an indication of salt water intrusion." The Health Department has lab capability to test for chlorides, but had to have its (Page 26 Please)

DID SHE SHARE? - Honey McLaughlin. 2 1/2 , looks pleased at the chocolate eggs she found at the Court House Kiwanis Club Easter egg hunt at the county park last Saturday. Jamie Lee, six months waits for her sister to share. Parents are Mr. and Mrs. James McLaughlin of Court House.

'County Courthouse ' A Thousand Phone Calls a Day

By JOE ZELNIK CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE - How'd you like to say "County Courthouse" 1,000 times a day? Marjorie Troust does it, and loves it. She's supervisor of telephone operations for Cape May County, taking calls for 220 extension in the county's Cape May Court House complex There also are switchboards at the Crest Haven complex and the Social Services building in Rio Grande. Last year, the county phone bill totaled $210,027 EACH INCOMING call - and Troust recorded a peak 12,000 one day recently — requires three or four lightning-like moves with her well-manicured hand. Troust hits an "answer" button, an ex-

Doris Ward MARJORIE TROUST

tension button (which can require two touches), and finally a "release" button so she can take the next call It all takes about two seconds When an extension is busy and she puts a caller on hold. Troust usually keeps the desired number in her head and reports back every 30 seconds: "It's still busy, do you wish to hold or call again''" TROUST RECENTLY delighted the Board of Freeholders She reported that the Court House and Crest Haven phone systems have plenty of capacity for the foreseeable future, including the relocation problems that will accompany a new Crest Haven nursing home and renovations to the courthouse complex The county buildings in Court House are using 220 of 400 extensions and have 180 available. Crest Haven is using 105 of 400. will heed six more at the new nursing home and have 289 available Trous' said they will "more than provide for any departments that will occupy the old Crest Haven Nursing Home " "It sounds like we're better off than I thought." said Freeholder Ralph W Evans. "I'm really happy," said Freeholder Director Gerald M. Thornton i didn't think we had that much capacity left." Troust did report that the system at Social Services is "quite "antiquated" and I needs upgrading. "They are in dire need." she said. Thornton asked her to research if it could be merged with the Court House system. TROUST WORKED for 10 years, from 1952 to 1962, in the Traffic Department at New Jersey Bell in Wildwood, handling information, long distance, etc. She came to county government as a part-time switchboard operator not quite 20 years ago and because full-time operator and supervisor in 1978. Freeholder William F. Sturm Jr., a New

Jersey Bell community relations manager, praised Troust as "one of the most efficient I've ever worked with, in the public or private sector." ASKED THE TOUGHEST part of the job, Troust found it difficult to come up with any complaint "It's stressful." she said. "But I like it. I - like being busy." Unable to take a break, she was interviewed as she worked, and had no difficulty fielding a reporter's question and incoming phone calls at the same time She also smokes cigarettes and drinks coffee ( black ) while she works. She has two relief operators — Jean Rhile and Barbara Spring, both of Court House — who come in during her lunch hour, vacations, and if she's ill She's missed about three days in the last six years, she said. She also disconnects from her headset about two days a month to divide the county's long distance phone bills bydepartment. PRODDED BY relief operator Springer, she conceded that the job can be difficult "at the full moon — the weirdos, you know You get strange calls." And she often gets calls from people who (Page 26 Please) 220-Extension Switchboard

College Expansion Site Due By JOE ZELNIK COURT HOUSE — Atlantic Community College is expected to announce next week a site for expanded facilities for its Cape May County student body Eventual objective: a branch campus that would give Atlantic a tight grip on this county's hundreds of community college students, also being wooed by Cumberland County College. Atlantic's six-year-old extension campus in Court house is inadequate, according to Dr. Thomas Chelius of Cape May, its chairperson of Academic Support Services. "We realize we have to expand," he said. "We've been on the hunt everywhere and anywhere." He told the Herald the county airport has been ruled out as "not centrally located" and indicated the college has reached an agreement for a location in the Court house area. THE BOARD OF FREEHOLDERS, which is spending $1 million this year for chargebacks for local students who attend out-of-county colleges, has said it would favor one branch campus. But it also has offered neither space nor money for the campus, sources say, and has emphasized the cost of chargebacks to the county. A state-mandated chargeback matches the home county's contribution to a college so the out-of-county student can pay the' same tuition as in-county students. Atlantic's rate is about twice that of Cumberland's It's unclear whether county designation of one branch campus would prevent (Page 26 Please) News - Digest Week's Top Stories Wildwood Rerun? OCEAN CITY — If everything comes off as planned, retiring Police Chief Dominick Longo will be named the city's $30.000-a-year director of public safety while collecting his $30,000 pension and $17,538 a year annually over the next five years in terminal leave payments. Longo currently draws $47,500 a year. Policemen's Benevolent Association officials complain that the director's job is unnecessary and object that the plan proposed by Mayor Jack Bittner leaves the chiefs job vacant indefinitely. See Above WILDWOOD — City officials have decided to select from two candidates this week an outside investigator to probe a police department drowning investigation last year. County grand jurors criticized it as a possible cover up in a presentment last month and linked it to an otherwise unidentified 15-year veteran detective. Apparently, one of the outside investigator's chores will be to find that 15-year veteran detective in the Wildwood force. Before the appointment. Mayor (Page 26 Please)