COUNT *Y ^ , tump i : ; ; : r wammmr

Vol. 21 NO. 25 * 1985 TK» S*owo>t Corp. AM riglm rotor* od

June 19, 1985

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News— ~ DlPPCt Week's ^ ■ gv 91. Top Stories 3 Hurt in Tues. Crash COLD SPRING — Three people were hospitalized in fair condition yesterday after a 5:12 a.m. head-on collision along Seashore Road. Driving south, Robert S. Murphy, 21, apparently crossed the centerline and crashed his vehicle into . another, driven by his New England Road neighbor. Linda D. Matthews, 29, according to Lower Township Police Lt. Charles Thornton. Besides the drivers. Murphy's passenger. Kathy Newell, 19, of Pittsburgh, Pa. was hospitalized. Recycling Works SWAINTON — County freeholders appointed former Wildwood Crest Mayor John Pantalone to replace Charles Hathaway on the county MUA last week. Pantalone and his running mates were defeated in last month's non-partisan municipal elections. Named MUA alternates were Upper Township Committeeman George Betts and Robert Mainfold, a retired industrial relations specialist from Cape May. Betts lost his GOP committee seat in the recent primary to Franklin Sack. Good Luck! COURT HOUSE - More than 800 seniors from four public secondary schools in the county threw mortar boards into the air Friday, marking the (Page 56 Please) Ocean Great; Two Backbay Sites Closed CREST HAVEN — The county's ocean waters tested "beautiful" last week, according to the county Health Department, but two backbay sites — in Sea Isle City . and Stone Harbor/Middle Township — were closed to "all primary contact recreational activities" because of high fecal coliform bacteria. Sea Isle City lagoons between 42nd and 47th streets showed counts of greater than 2,400. The state water quality standard is 200, and 2,400 has been called "pure excrement." In a letter to Sea Isle City Mayor Michael McHale, county Health Officer Louis J. Lam ana said he had been advised that "these high fecal counts may be a direct/indirect result of sewage discharging into the bays via drains, broken sewer lines, and/or perhaps illegal tie-ins." He said the area would be posted against swimming, etc. "until such time as our test results show water quality back within acceptable standards." ALSO TO BE POSTED are the waters at the entrance to Stone Harbor Marina tend the lagoon at Stone Harbor Manor which (Page 6 Please)

NEW COMMISSION — Members of the county's Advisory Commission on the Status of Women, just after introducing themselves to county freeholders. Left to right, standing, Dorothy Crawford. Rosabel Koss, Lois White. Barbara Kozak. Maria DiGiacomo Seated. Clare Walsh. Janet Abel. Corinne Robinson. Barbara Choinacki and Cherri Olsen, Not present. Eileen Rodan.

' $40,000 'Donation' Considered Home Eying Treatment Plant

Dor it Ward COURT HOUSE CONVALESCENT CENTER DUE TO OPEN IN SEPTEMBER Vistenzo: 'It's Not a Big Deal' Voll Backs Hook-Up

COURT HOUSE — Middle Township Mayor Michael J. Voll and Committeeman James Alexis apparently favor letting the Court House Convalescent Center connect to the township sewage treatment plant And they were ready to support the proposal with a "public relations resolution" May 1, until Committeeman Charles Leusner and Solicitor Bruce Gorman raised warning flags. That committee work session was attended by the three committeemen, Gorman. Benjamin Miller, partner in Hospicomm Inc., developer of the nursing home, and Michael Vistenzo, township construction code official. Vistenzo also appeared to favor the Hospicomm proposal AS A THEN-MEMBER of the township sewage commission, he first brought the nursing home project to the commission on Sept. 1, 1983, along with a proposal to extend the district's sewer lines to serve a proposed 19-lot subdivision. Romney East. ^ One of the owners of Romney East and of the land later sold to Hospicomm for the nursing home was Realtor Thomas J Repici.

The related permits and reserved alloca tions were questioned by -a grand jury that criticized Vistenzo and the commission and indicted Repici for illegally connecting his Hy-Land Motor Inn to the sewage line in Romney East. IN THE FALLOUT from that controversy, Vistenzo resigned from the commission and Repici was subsequently convicted and sentenced, he is appealing In October of 1984, Vistenzo granted the nursing home a building permit that the county Health Department subsequently nullified until septic system changes were made This account of tlie May 1 committee work session is taken from a transcript prepared by the Middle Township clerk's office for the Cape May Court House Neighborhood Association ( It is suing to prevent the nursing home from using an on-site septic system. The association paid $50 for the transcript i : MILLER TOLD the group that there was "a desire" by the state DEP. the county MUA, and the county Health and Planning departments "to see us tie into" the sewage district plant. (Page 69 Please)

Hospicomm Claims ManyBack Proposal By JOE ZELNIK COURT HOUSE — Owners of a controversial nursing home under construction on Magnolia Drive are making another effort to connect to the Middle Township sewage treatment plant. They propose to offer the sewer commission about $40,000 so it can increase the capacity of the plant, already overcapacity. Eugene Mayer, president of Hospicomm Inc.. of Philadelphia, developer and future operator of the Court House Convalescent Center, declined to discuss his plans in detail, but agreed that his firm is "still pursuing" that possibility and is "awaiting a response from Middle Township." Mayer's partner. Benjamin Miller, has been in meetings with county and township officials to discuss the proposal, but the firm has not approached the Middle Township Sewage Commission, which has the final say. CONSTRUCTION PROCEEDS on the $4-million. 120-bed nursing home even though the Cape May Court House Neighborhood Association is suing Hospicomm and the state DEP (Department of Environmental Protection) to block use of an on-site septic system. All parties agreed that connection to the sewage treatment plant would end the law suit, which both sides confidently claim they will win. Timing is close. The court case in Trenton is scheduled for the week of July 29 with a decision expected from an administrative law judge within a week after that. MILLER TOLD Middle Township Committee that his deadline is July 15 and "after that point we must finally hook up our plumbing and do our on-site system..." Mayer, however, told this newspaper that the work could wait until "the end of July or beginning of August." which would coincide with the end of trial. Mayer said he estimates the cost of the (Page 4 Please)

A Broad Mix Women 's Group Named

By JOE ZELNIK COURT HOUSE — There are 11 women, chosen from 43 applicants by a committee of five of their peers. They range in age from early 20s to "70-plus." They come from as far north as Palermo and as far south as West Cape May. There are three from Lower Township, but none from either Ocean City or Cape May. Two stopped formal education after high school. Nine have attended college. Three have undergraduate degrees, four have graduate degrees, including a PhD. Three have never married, at least one is divorced, and one is a widow. Two are retired, one is a home-maker, and eight are employed. NONE WERE ASKED their politics, and few apparently have been active in it. But one is a Republican committeewoman who lost a nonpartisan school board election by one vote in April.

Their special women's interests run the gamut from teen-age parents to the problems of aging. The borad mix in geography, age, vocation and special concerns was a key goal of the screening committee that picked the Advisory Commission on the Status of Women, according to Patricia Devaney of Cape May, county Human Services administrator. (Page 69 Please) inside ... EVERYTHING you ever wanted to know about Senior Week, but never dared to ask. Pages 22 and 23. Sagittarius, do not over-analyze; Pisces, creativity abounds. Planetarily Speaking, page 71. THERE'S no doubt whose fault it is, is there? Joyride III, page 71.